How The Garden Gnomes Ruined Christmas
by Suupaa Gohan 2
Summary: The third installment of the annual Christmas tales starring Goten, Trunks, SG2 and real life friends, and various Anime characters. If ya don't handle insanity well, you won't like this. Nonsensical humor and incessant Anime crossovers, etc...enjoy.
1. Act I: The Santa Claus Dilemma

How The Garden Gnomes Ruined Christmas  
By SG2

Rating-PG-13 for foul language/humor and suggestive dialogue.

Warnings-This is incredibly stupid and nonsensical…read at your own risk. It was intended to be read by the people who star IN the story (IE my equally random and insane friends) so if you aren't one of them…or you don't handle randomness well (Go watch some FLCL or Bobobo-Bo Bo-bobo!)…you probably will enjoy this about 0.

Notes-It's that time of year again. And while technically it is Yonk's turn to write this year, he's busy between college and writing his own stories, so I'll once again be taking the reigns. Besides, I had a lot of ideas I wanted to put to use…That's right, it's time for the third annual amazingly pointless group Christmas story of SG2, Yonk and Friends! But what makes this year's story different than the last two, you ask? Well, to make a long story short, the establishment of my website IGNO (s9. has added a whole repertoire of new people to our little click beyond just me, Yonk, AngelGoten and )\/(ajin \/egita. And, with the people of this group being who they are, it's pretty much guaranteed that this year's story will be a whole lot wackier than even the last two. What's new exactly? New real-life personages, a host of new Anime character on "special request" (that's right, Goten and Trunks won't be flying solo this year!), more innate humor than you can shake a stick at, crazy nonsensical plot twists (and no doubt entire plot CONTRADICTIONS)…and of course, the leading attraction, the main thing that sets this year apart from the previous two…Garden Gnomes. Yes, Garden Gnomes, the biggest inside joke among our group, even moreso than Twelve and anything involving Tim's Mom, the Gnomes will finally be starring in their first feature-length story rather that little snippet posts on the forum. So, by all means, read on. Enjoy. Just don't expect it to make any sense.

DISCLAIMER-I do not own in any way shape or form the characters or concepts referenced in _How the Garden Gnomes Stole Christmas. _All Dragonball references including the characters of Goten, Trunks, Bulma, Vegeta, and all mentions of Capsule Corporation, Satan City, the Dragonballs and the concept of Super Saiyajin are copyrighted to Akira Toriyama, Bird Studio, Shueisha and all those good folks. All Naruto references including the characters of Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke and Hatake Kakashi, as well as concepts of Hokage, Konohagakure Village, the Sharingan and the Kage Bunshin or any similar Jutsu are copyrighted to Masashi Kishimoto. Any and all GetBackers references including the characters of Ginji and Ban, or the concepts of the retrievers and/or the special abilities of the Evil Eye and Snake Bite are copyrighted to Yuuya Aoki and Rando Ayamine. Any references to Dragon Drive including the characters of Reiji and Chibisuke or the concepts of the Netvigator and the virtual world of Dragon Drive and D-Breaking are copyrighted to Ken'Ichi Sakura. All references to Gensomaden Saiyuki and Saiyuki Reload including the characters of Genjo Sanzo, Sha Gojyo, Son Gokou and Cho Hakkai as well as other Youkai concepts are copyrighted to Kazuya Minekura. The original concept for Gundam are copyrighted to Hajime Yatate The Gundam songs Invoke by T.M. Revolution, Metamorphoze by Gackt, Flying in the Sky by Ushima Hitofumi, Good Luck and Goodbye by Toshihiko Seki and Shoot! by Seki Tomokazu are property of their respective artists and soundtracks to the various Gundam series'. The Grinch and all likenesses are copyrighted to Theodore S. Geisel, AKA Dr. Seuss. Mr. Hankey is copyrighted to Trey Parker and Matt Stone of South Park fame. And finally, concepts involved in the intro of this story including all references and statistics are borrowed and inspired by the piece "Santa Claus-And Engineer's Perspective". The characters of SG2, Yonk, AngelGoten, )\/(ajin \/egita, SilverDagger113, Karma, Ville, Corey, SageofYuri/Yaoi, and Informer X are fictionally modified likenesses of their respective personages. Kalltoraiyajin is copyrighted to Yonk. Original concepts for the evil Garden Gnomes created by AngelGoten. A large number of minor jokes may be references to other copyrighted material as well. 4\) \/\/-03\/3R 1\\/3\73) L33T 5P34 ? (uR53 y0u. (uR53 y0u 70 -3lL 4\) 34( . Whew, OK. I think that's it for the disclaimer, if I missed anything I'm sorry.

Again, this makes more sense if you read the first two installments…

Part 1-"A Very Chibi Christmas" by Yonk (December 2003) (http/ 2-"'Twas The Night Before Another Chibi Christmas" by SG2 (December 2004) (http/s9. all caught up? Alright, here we go.

How the Garden Gnomes Ruined Christmas

By SG2

12/3/05

**ACT 1-THE SANTA CLAUS DILLEMMA**

The snow is falling softly through the stiff chill air, cushioning the ground below with a soft blanket of white. Tiny white stars glow in the not-so-distant sky, adding a somber comfort to the otherwise crystal-black night. The date is December 23rd, the day before the much-anticipated Christmas Eve. At the far end of the blue planet known as Earth sits the North Pole, a bitterly cold frozen wasteland. Although virtually abandoned, this secluded land of ice is a paradise for the one famous man in the world who does not WANT to be found-Santa Claus himself, along with his wife Mrs. Claus and a couple hundred elves.

On this night seemingly like other nights, the scene outside Santa's Workshop is one of bustling chaos as the elves hustle to aid everyone's favorite fat man load up his sleigh. Certainly, the night of the big journey is still a day away, but each year a test run is held to see if Jolly Old Saint Nick can complete the run in the allotted time. If he couldn't do that much, well, there would certainly be a lot of disappointed children.

"All set to go, Mr. C?", a tiny elf calls out as he loads a box onto the already loaded sled.

"Oh-ho-ho, let me see…", Santa replies, giving the sleigh a quick visual scan. "I believe we're all set, but let's get the technical specialists out here to double check things. They know a heck of a lot more about this stuff than I do!"

"Sure thing, Mr. C!" replies the elf as he heads back into the workshop to summon the technical specialist elves.

Moments later, he returns, followed by ten or so toolbelt-sporting elves. These elves, however, look much older and more grizzled in comparison to the cherubic toy making elves. Their beards are long and straggled, gray with age rather than the snow-white shade of the big man in the sleigh's. Their noses are rounder and more bulbous as well, as opposed to tiny and pointed like the other elves. Certainly, they don't even resemble elves at all aside from their stature…

"Alright, then, let's have a look…" says one of them as he steps up to the large red sleigh. He examines it closely, his hands running over the rudders as his eyes scan everything from the paint coating it to the reindeer strapped to the front.

"Hm, oh no", he mutters, scratching his beard. "No, you definitely don't want to go out like THIS, Santa…"

"Oh really? How so? Is there a problem?" Santa asks, a bit of worry in his voice.

"Well, not a TERRIBLE problem, but…" he trails off. "Well, if we let you take off like this, you could run into a few minor…inconveniences…and, well…"

"Well?"

"Well…Depending on certain factors, from the pressure on the sleigh to the carrying capacity of the reindeer to the weight of the load and, well even the speed you're traveling at…Let's just say that if anything were to happen, the children could wake up not only to empty stockings…but to a smoldering Santa corpse on their front lawns."

"Oh goodness!" gasps Santa, bringing his large gloved hand to clasp over his mouth. "Is there anything you can do!"

"Of course. We ARE specialists, after all. All we'd require is a little extra in the monetary department…"

"Oh, that's no problem at all! Please, do what you must!" he exclaims, releasing the reigns and stepping off the sleigh. "I couldn't do that to the children!"

"Heh, don't worry, Mr. C…" he says in a low, almost sinister voice. "We won't let anything happen to jeopardize the happiness of the children…"

The head technical elf then motions to the rest of his crew as Santa Claus retires to the workshop, giving them space to do the necessary work.

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"SANTAAAAAA!" calls out the head technician elf. "We're ready for you!"

Grabbing his trademark red hat and coat, the jolly old man steps out the door to the workshop into the snowy outdoors, awaiting the signal to step onto his sleigh.

"OK, we tuned it up nice for you, Santa." Says the head technician, hiding well the cruel smile forming on his twisted lips. "What's more is you should be able to finish your journey more than twice as fast that previously possible!"

"Oh-ho-ho, that's great!" the hirsute bearded man laughs heartily. "Thank you so much for all your help; I don't know how I can ever thank you!"

"Oh, don't worry Santa…The looks on the faces of the children when they see you will be…MORE than enough payment for our services…"

Santa smiles and nods, not picking up on the potential double connotations of the head elf's words. He hoists up his oversized pants and hops onto the sleigh, taking the leathery reigns in his hands. He turns down and smiles at Mrs. Claus, who holds a large stopwatch in her hand.

"We'll be timing you to see how fast you can make the run, dear!" she says joyfully. Saint Nick winks, turning his gaze back forward to the reindeer in front of him.

"OK everyone, clear out and let Santa do his stuff!" the head elf calls out to his troops. On the command, they scatter like ants, seeming even the slightest bit afraid that something could go wrong…

"Howdy Ho!" calls out a miniscule voice, prompting everyone to turn their gazes towards the door. Suddenly, out from seemingly nowhere leaps a tiny brown piece of poo, his ochre color standing out against the pure white of the snow.

"Oh-ho-ho, Mr. Hankey!" Santa exclaims as the tiny poo leaps up onto the sleigh, leaving a small brown smear behind him.

"You can't make the journey without me, Santa! Even if it is just a test run!" he smiles.

"Oh-ho-ho, I sure can't, Mr. Hankey! Hop aboard!"

The poo complies, jumping across the reindeer and leaving small brown smudges before situating himself on Blitzen's back.

"We can't forget the Piski Dust, Santa!" Mr. Hankey calls back. Just at that very moment the eyes of the head technician elf widen. He looks at his troops and nods silently, and though not a word is spoken a signal is conveyed.

"Oh, of course, whip it out then, Mr. Hankey!" Santa says, jollier than ever. Heeding the happy man's words, Mr. Hankey pulls out a small vial of a grainy sand-like substance, sprinkling it gently over all eight of Santa's most trusted reindeer. They glow a spooky iridescent color that shines into the dark star-dusted night, and the elves on the sidelines watch in awe.

_There it is…the Piski Dust…the final key to the puzzle…_ponders the head elf.

"Ready to go, Santa?" Mr. Hankey asks. He fat man nods, and Mrs. Claus readies her stopwatch. Gripping the reigns in his hands, Santa's face tightens into a serious expression as he calls aloud…

"On Dasher! On Dancer! On Prancer! On Vixen!" the whip cracks a solid line through the stiff winter air as the glowing reindeer perk up.

"On Comet! On Cupid! On Donder! On Blitzen!" he calls, his whip flaring gracefully as the sleigh begins to lift off the snowy ground.

As the sleigh rises into the sky the jingling bells chime, ringing a cheerful tune through the silent sky. By now the snow is blowing ever the slightest bit chaotically towards the elf troops and Mrs. Claus as they watch from the ground below, the magic sleigh slowly vanishing from their view. Mrs. Claus clutches the stopwatch to her chest, a worried expression gracing her usually cheerful face as though a bad omen has set into her mind.

"Good luck, Nicholas…" she whispers, a silent sound that is quickly carried off into the passing wind.

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"Santa's log. Approximately 108 million houses to hit bearing Christmas-celebrating children. Accounting for time-zone shifts, approximately 20 hours of Christmas to work with. Aiming to break the current record of 15 hours round-trip across the planet Earth." Santa Claus holds a pen in one hand, writing in a small logbook as his other hand holds steady to the reigns. Up beyond the bow of the sleigh sits Mr. Hankey, ever watchful as he helps to guide the magic vehicle through the chill night skies.

Setting aside his logbook for a moment, Santa reaches behind a sack of presents and grasps a bottle of RedBull. Raising it to his cherry-red lips, he tosses it back, chugging like a frat boy at a college keg party. He sighs in relief as the contents is quickly emptied, the empty glass container tossed carelessly to the back of the sled. His hands once again find the logbook and resume their documentation.

"Stamina-inducing tonic working. Speed boost allowing for maximum ability to clear the roof, slide down the chimney, place presents in the stockings and below the trees and get back to the sleigh with cookie-and-milk time to spare." He tosses a casual glance to Mr. Hankey.

"Mr. Hankey, status?"

The tiny poo presents a meter and he gazes intently at it.

"Current travel speed-650 miles per second. Eight reindeer, each towing 500 thousand tons. Ample supply of RedBull remaining, with approximately 20 hours and 108 million houses to go."

"Good. Distance to the next house?"

"5,000 miles and counting, Mr. Kringle!"

Santa tosses a slightly irate glance at his watch, clenching his teeth in worry.

"Shoot…" He reaches for the reigns, cracking them with ferocity. "Accelerate!"

The reindeer speed up at the feel of the whip and begin gliding faster through the glittering black sky.

It isn't long before the first house comes into view, and the whip is cracked again, coercing the reluctant reindeer to increase their speed further. The obese fellow leaps from the slowing sleigh onto the rooftop, not bothering to stop as he glides straight down the open chimney. Mere seconds later he jumps right back up through the chimney and into the sleigh, looking as if someone had rewound a video cassette. He takes his place back at the reins and urges his wards to once again increase their speed. Once again, they comply, although a noticeable air of unwillingness shows on their faces.

At the current speed, Santa is able to hit the houses at an unspeakable pace, and within less than five minutes he has already finished with the first ten houses on the journey. The large-bellied Kringle is now dripping with sweat as he tosses back another RedBull, his heart racing nearly at an equal speed of his sleigh.

"OK…" he gets out, breathing heavily. "OK Mr. Hankey, see if you can't get the reindeer to speed up a bit more…"

"But Santa, we're already going more than five times our usual speed!" Mr. Hankey says worriedly.

"But nothing! I'm going to shatter that 15 hour record! Give them more RedBull and tell them to get at it at full-force! Now get going or I'll hitch you to the front and make you pull as well!"

The brown poo-nugget grits his teeth together, but reluctantly does as he's told, realizing that when it comes to Christmas Santa's word is law.

Slowly, both St. Nick and Mr. Hankey begin to notice their trajectory shifting ever so slightly. Mr. Hankey peers back at the reindeer only to notice a glazed-over look in their usually lively brown eyes. Moreso than that, they are moving in a much less lucrative pattern, swaying to and fro.

"Uh, Santa…"

"What is it? Why are we slowing down?" he calls impatiently.

"It's the reindeer! They seem to be…" he takes a closer look at Blitzen. "They seem like they're…drunk…!"

"What! Drunk! Impossible! We don't let them near the eggnog until AFTER the big journey!" he cries aloud. "How can this be!"

"Well, I don't think it's ALCOHOL-induced, Santa…it seems like…" he examines Blitzen closer, hopping onto each additional reindeer to check them over personally. "If I had to guess I'd say the combination of the RedBull and the Piski Dust is having a side-effect! In effect, they ARE drunk!"

"What! But we always use RedBull and Piski Dust! The Piski's even make it extra specially balanced for reindeer so we can have the most beneficial effect! This has never happened before!"

The reindeer continue to sway as the snow falls fiercer and more forcefully than ever. Mr. Hankey clings desperately to Donder's collar while Santa struggles to keep to the front of the sleigh, dodging the bombardments of the gifts rocketing towards the back. As all the weight is pooled towards the back the reindeer rear up, increasing their speed without being told to this time. Wind rushes by, ruffling the fat man's beard.

"MR. HANKEY!" Santa calls out, struggling to hear himself over the whizzing wind. "GET THEM TO SLOOOOOOOOOOOW D-D-D-DOWN!"

"I'm trying, Santa! They're not listening to me! They're—WHOA!"

The meter in Mr. Hankey's hand shatters as the speed reads over 950 miles per second. Shards of glass zoom past Santa and slice his face open, but the vacuum whirring past them prevents any blood from escaping. The broken meter flies from Mr. Hankey's hand and off into the wind as the speed increases even further. The reindeer glow an intense green, the light radiating to the sky all around and giving the illusion of being trapped in a dome of green-colored Jell-O. Fire sparks at the reindeer's hooves as they aim to move faster than the speed of light, absorbing over 14.3 quintillion joules of energy individually. One by one, the 4 pair of deer burst into flames, igniting those behind them until the sleigh catches on fire as well. Sonic booms begin to erupt in the sky, and the fabric of space-time itself begins to tear. Then, in a flash, all of Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder and Blitzen are simultaneously vaporized. With nothing to hold onto, Mr. Hankey flies through the air…

Santa screams a blood-curdling scream as the sleigh stops dead-a result of having nothing to pull it any further. Decelerating from 850 miles per second to 0 in the course of .001 seconds sends the jolly elf crashing to the front of the sleigh and the presents right after him, the raw force of over 500 thousand tons pinning him and crushing his bones and organs to a pulp under a force of over 4,315,015 pounds…What's more, if he wasn't dead enough, his body is ignited as the still-burning sleigh falls rapidly through the air, crashing to the ground below…the chances of his survival less than zero. The whereabouts of Mr. Hankey? Unknown.

Whirring snow swirls about in a vortex in the sky for about 10 seconds after the impact before the sonic booms cease and the rips in the space-time continuum close back up. The snow's ferocity slows to a gently flutter as the stars return to the sky, a sinister streak of lightning ripping through the air. Surely even with the death of Santa Claus, the world does not stop spinning, and the snow continues drifting gently on its journey to the soft ground below as the night grows silent…

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Elsewhere, oblivious to the apparent atrocity that has just taken place, the people of the great West Capitol gear up for their Christmas celebrations. Snow drifts merrily through the air as the people are all a-bustle, some desperately trying to complete some last-minute Christmas shopping. Christmas decorations adorn shop windows and everyone has a happy glow on their faces. Children skip down the streets, having snowball fights with one another as they go, and the air itself radiates joy.

Down in the center of the metropolis, slightly isolated from the rest of the city sits Capsule Corporation, the largest and most prestigious business venture in the world. But Capsule Corp. isn't just a corporate powerhouse; it is also the residence of the Brief's family who own the company. Christmas garb adorns the large yellow dome-like household and all the surrounding trees are graced with lovely silver and gold tinsel and other ornaments. Footsteps crunch in the soft snow below as someone steps up to the automated door, giving it three swift knocks. The door is opened and the visitor is greeted by the ever-cheerful Bulma.

"Oh, Yonk-kun!" she exclaims gleefully at the sight of the old family friend dressed in warm winter clothing, dusted lightly with the white powder.

"How's it going, Bulma-san?" he asks politely. "Sorry if I'm a little late, I had to stop off and pick up…a few things…" he says mischievously, tossing a side glance to the life-sized present box set neatly on the ground behind him. Bulma peers over his shoulder, her eyes widening in awe of its size.

"Goodness, what did you bring! That thing's big enough to fit two small children!" He laughs nervously at her claim.

"What? Why what an oddly specific thing to say, Bulma-san…" he laughs to himself.

_Oddly specific, but right on the money…_he thinks, smiling brightly.

"Well, come on in out of the cold, Yonk-kun." She says, ushering him and his large box through the door. "Everyone else is already here!"

The second Yonk steps in the house, his jaw drops at the sheer extravagance before him. Red and green streamers strewn gracefully across the banisters and stairwells, Santa and Snowman fixtures set against the walls, right down to the cheerful Christmas music blaring in his ears. Faux snow adorns the small decorative Christmas trees and there are paper snowflakes hanging from the expansive ceiling.

"Wow…This gives whole new meaning to the phrase "deck the halls", Bulma-san…" he manages, recovering from his speechlessness. The blue-haired woman laughs, folding her arms across her chest and walking jauntily towards the living room, humming along with the Christmas tunes.

"Well come on then Yonk-kun, everyone is waiting in the family room."

"Are Goten and Trunks here?" he asks, looking around. "I brought this gift for them, and I'd like them to open it early…"

"Oh, sure, they're upstairs in Trunks' room."

"Not…busy, I hope?" he says, drooling slightly over the images that spring into his mind.

"Oh no, they're just helping Vegeta decorate the upstairs." She walks to the stairs and calls aloud. "BOYS!"

"IN A MINUTE!" a voice calls back. Yonk smiles, recognizing the voice to be Trunks, impatient as ever. Moments later they both come simultaneously bolting down the stairs, Goten choosing to slide down the banister alongside his friend. Both are dressed in nearly identical Santa suits, for no apparent reason other than Bulma probably forced them to get into costume.

"What is it, mom? We're busy helping Papa decorate!"

"Yeah, and he's bein' real mean about it, too! Makin' me an' Trunks-kun do the high-up stuff, somethin' about him bein' too short…I don't know…" Goten adds in, trailing off.

"Oh, your father can wait! Look, the last of our guests has arrived!" she says, pointing over her shoulder to Yonk. The boys' eyes widen at the sight of their old friend and second father.

"YONK-SAN!" they both shout in unison, jumping on him happily. Yonk is knocked backwards and to the ground, nearly knocking over his large gift box.

"Whoa, whoa, eeeeeasy there! You almost made me wreck my present to you guys!"

"Present!" they both say at once. Yonk nods happily as they shuffle behind him and examine the large box.

"You got us a present, Yonk-san? We didn't get you anything…" says Trunks.

"Oh, that's no problem." Yonk says, the smile never leaving his face.

"Can we open it now? Can we can we can we!" Goten begs, jumping up and down like he's still a little child. Trunks slaps his forehead at his friend's embarrassing eagerness but Yonk just keeps beaming, unable to break his smile in the presence of his two favorite boys.

"Of course!" he says, and Goten's eyes become as wide as saucers. "But let's take it into the living room. I want to see the look on everyone's faces…particularly SG2 and Angel, hehehehe…" Yonk adds in sinisterly. Before the sentence is even fully out Goten is already bouncing into the living room, so the others follow right behind him.

As Yonk steps into the living room, he can clearly see that the entire gang is assembled. )\/(ajin \/egita stands off to the side from the rest of the group, arms folded in his usual fashion. SG2 and SilverDagger sit on the couch chatting, as SageofYuri/Yaoi stands over the Christmas tree, hanging some small ornaments onto it. He stumbles backward as Ville runs past, chasing Corey around the tree with a knife in his hand, muttering something about Unicomm. AngelGoten reaches for a cookie off a plate on the table, looking around to see if anyone is watching before sneaking a few more into her pockets. Informer X and Karma stand at the nearby punchbowl, chatting about something irrelevant while Bulma, Goten and Trunks join Yonk in the room.

"Wow, I guess everyone's here alright…" Yonk says, smiling at the sight of his long-time friends. Just as he is about to go make conversation he is tackled from behind by an overly-hyper Goten and once again is knocked to the floor.

"Yonk-san! Ne, ne, can we open our present now! Ne? Ne? Ne!" he asks excitedly.

"OK, OK, fine! Just let me up! I can't…breath…haaaahhhk…" Yonk calls out as Goten notices his knee is embedded in his former 'Tousan's gut. He blushes, embarrassed, as he rises and helps Yonk to his feet as well.

"Sorry about that, Yonk-san…" he apologizes sweetly.

"It's OK. I can't be mad at you…Now come on, Trunks! Come over here with your friend and open your present!"

Trunks joins Goten on the floor as both kneel over the enormous present. Each takes hold of one side and, surprisingly neatly, open it up. There is a jolt and both boys pull their hands away as the box begins to shake…suddenly they are knocked back as the box moves forward on its own, and two flashes of light pop out. The tiny blurs zoom across the room, causing everyone's eyes to dart back and forth trying to follow their intense speed. Even Ville and Corey stop their chase to observe the strange phenomenon. Finally, they stop moving and stand side by side, revealing…Chibi Goten and Trunks!

"Ta-da! Surprise!" Yonk exclaims as the Chibi's stand triumphantly. Everyone else stares, their jaws practically touching the floor in awe of this incredibly strange occurrence. Finally, it is SG2 who speaks up, seeking an explanation.

"Uh, Yonk? What the Hell?" she says, unable to find more profound words to express the sheer confusion of the situation.

"It's Chibi Goten and Trunks! I brought them to the party as a surprise! It looks like it worked, you all seem pretty surprised!" Yonk laughs out.

"Uh, YEAH!" cries SG2. "Especially considering we already HAVE a Goten and Trunks in the room!"

"Yeah, I know! That was half the fun having them be the ones to open it!"

"But…" SG2 mumbles, desperately searching for what to say next. "But…HOW! Just…HOW!"

"Oh, yeah. Well you know how the universe we're in right now is your version of the DBZ world, right? Like how it is in IGNO and whatnot…well, I stopped by MY universe real quick on my way over here and picked up MY versions of Goten and Trunks! Pretty cool, huh?"

Everyone else in the room listens in silence, not having the faintest clue what all this universe nonsense the two are talking about means.

"Well," SG2 muses, taking a closer look at the Chibi versions of the boys. "I guess that explains why they still have their tails…"

Yonk nods. Chibi Goten glances behind him at his swishing tail, and teen Goten follows in suit to see he lacks one. Trunks smacks his younger friend upside the head for his stupid venture. All of a sudden, there is a loud stomping noise as Vegeta comes tearing down the stairs…also dressed in a festive holiday outfit, this one a green elf-looking suit as opposed to Goten and Trunks' red Santa suits. Clearly, the costumes ARE masterminded by Bulma.

"OK, woman. I'm done decorating the upstairs. Can I PLEASE change out of this ridiculous outfit now!" he asks annoyed, trying to hide the red in his face. Bulma waves her finger in his face.

"Uh-uh-uh, you promised me you would wear it all night…that was the deal, for the…you know…" She steps up to her husband and whispers in his ear, causing him to jolt.

"Oh, right, THAT reason…" he says, taking notice that everyone is watching and quickly moving to change the subject. "Ahem…uh, anyway, can we at least EAT now?"

"Only if you go upstairs and put the hat back on, Vegeta!"

"What! But I'm a warrior! I can't be seen wearing something THAT ridiculous!"

"Uh-uh, Vegeta…the hat is part of the costume, and you know…no costume, no deal…"

"Alright, fine…" he says, turning and heading back up the stairs, muttering "I wonder if ALL Chikyuujin have to go through this nonsense on the holidays…"

Everyone in the living room watches as the Saiyajin Prince retreats, confused at the sight of the odd spectacle.

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"Alright everyone, I hope you all brought your appetites 'cuz it's TIME TO EAT!"

Bulma steps into the dining room carrying a huge platter of food. She sets it down in the center of the table as the salivating IGNO crew look on, their hands tightly gripping their forks and knives, eager to dig in. Time after time Bulma exits and returns to the room, each time coming back with her hands full of even more delicious-looking food. Surely this will at least be enough to satisfy the humans, but Bulma knows she has her hands full when it comes to catering to four Saiyajin, two half-Saiyajin (and two unexpected-and unaccounted for-half-Saiyajin), and one Kalltoraiyajin.

"OK, everyone…" Bulma says, clearly done bringing food as she takes her place at the end of the table beside her husband. "Dig in!"

"ITADAKIMAS!" could not have been said fast enough as fourteen pairs of hands simultaneously reach towards the center of the table, grabbing fistfuls of food and piling it high upon their plates.

Karma, the self-proclaimed glasses-wearing genius of the group, shreds the leg off the giant turkey with an equal fury to that which she employs when demolishing the enemy with her Kodachi in battle. She smiles as her pet snake curls about her shoulder, and she politely hands back a piece of her turkey leg, only to have it swallowed whole and the picked-clean bone spit back onto the table within seconds. She tosses back a refreshing Vanilla Coke to wash down her meal, sighing with satisfaction.

Informer X, the randomness-loving smartass, goes right for the rolls as he tightens the strap of the rocket launcher strapped to his back. If you didn't know him better, you would be surprised to know someone so happy-go-lucky seeming could have such a violent maniacal streak to him.

SG2 struggles to reach the top of the table, cursing her incredibly short stature. Finally making it up, she eyes the wide array of food on the table before her, trying to decide what should first satiate her tiger's appetite. She shifts in her chair, her large orange tail swishing to and fro.

Just as she reaches her paw towards the pasta she brushes the hand of her long time friend, Yonk. Their eyes meet and a silent spark is shot between them, their gaze locked as they both reach for the ramen. Sharp, tiger eyes meet those of a hungry and determined Kalltoraiyajin, the inner fox of the former shining through. SG2 knows that when Yonk sets his eyes on something he wants, he doesn't quit until he gets it. And with food being number two on the fox's list of favorite things-second only to little boys-SG2 quickly finds herself outclassed. But being outclassed never stopped SG2 from fighting for what she wants in the past, and this is no exception as the two do battle for the delicious noodles.

)\/(ajin \/egita grabs a knife, cutting through the tough steak situated on his plate. Surely the full-blooded Saiyajin was much like the real Vegeta, but if there is one thing that sets them apart from one another it would be appetite. Breaking his usual habits of quietly and aloofly keeping to himself, )\/(ajin \/egita tears across the table at the food not unlike his friends.

AngelGoten sets her sights on the pizza…in addition to of course setting her sights on Goten. Although she may be as hungry as the others, Angel finds it hard to focus enough to tear her eyes away from Goten long enough to put food on her plate. The Australian Saiyajin shifts into a more comfortable position-one in which her wings aren't pressed so forcefully against the back of her chair as well as one from which she has a better view of both adorable raven-haired Goten's.

Silver just smiles at the sight of her ravenous friends, turning to dig her chopsticks into the Japanese food. The horseback riding sword master piles rice nearly to the ceiling on her plate, tossing her head to the side so her long black hair is out of her face and she can more effectively eat like a pig.

Sage dives into the stuffed swordfish and lobster, tearing into it with two knives at once. He rams it all into his mouth bite after bite, seemingly not even bothering to chew. But, that's not nearly an unusual thing for the Super-German Sage with powers over both light and darkness. He wields the mighty double swords, the Kentana of Heaven and the Kentana of Hell, allowing this half-cat warrior to quickly gain the upper hand over his foes in battle. Truly, he has all the power to do the most good or the most evil to the entire universe, his powers rivaling those of even Yonk's, but because he is neutral, a conflict has never erupted between the two and they are allowed to be friends.

Both pairs of Gotens and Trunkses, however, don't seem to play favorites…they don't even seem to notice what they're stuffing into their mouths, knowing only they are hungry and it is food. Vegeta and Bulma just stare in awe; afraid to even stick their hands into the fray for fear that they might lose them. They deign rather to just wait until the others are finished…knowing full well that may be a long time in coming.

"Hey, Corey! Toss me a roll!" calls out Ville, deciding to ask for what he wants rather than just dive in like the rest of his friends. The teenage boy with the power to change into any inanimate object gestures to his best friend/worst enemy across the table, trying to make his request heard.

"Hey, asshole! I'm talking to you!" he calls out, only to be ignored again.

On the other side of the table, Corey Feeley chuckles to himself. He knows he can hear Ville, but is determined to deliberately ignore him and resume his own eating of the ribs before him. He mutters something under his breath, laughing silently as he spoons some mashed potatoes and corn onto his plate.

"Get your own roll, you Damn Commie…" he whispers, believing no one can hear him. To his surprise, Ville's hand shoots across the table, gripping his wrist and stopping it in its tracks.

"I SAID, get me a roll, Corey!" Ville grinds out through grit teeth. Corey glares back with equal ferocity.

"And I said, get it YOURSELF, you Damn Commie!"

"God Dammit, stop calling me that! I'm NOT a communist you simple-minded mother-lover!"

"Hey!" Corey shoots back. "You leave Tim's mom out of this!  
"Mother lover! Mother lover!" Ville taunts.

"Stop SAYING that!"

"Would you rather I called you a mother f—"Ville is cut off as Corey leaps across the table, tackling him to the floor. Ville grabs his knife and proceeds to try jamming it into the blonde boy's jugular as their tussle is taken to the floor, ignored by the hungry gang at the table.

"I'll be right back," says Karma, excusing herself and her snake from the table and continuing to ignore the battle taking place at her feet. "Where's the bathroom?" she asks politely.

"Right upstairs and to your right, Karma-chan." Bulma responds, pointing over to the stairwell.

"Thank you!" she calls, racing up the stairs hurriedly.

Mere moments later, Karma comes bolting back down the stairs in a frenzied panic. At this, even the hunger-crazed Saiyajin turn their attention as their friend freaks out, trying to catch her breath from running down the stairs.

"Karma, what's wrong?" asks SG2, worried for her friend.

"S-s-s-something…i-i-in the bathroom…in the toilet…" Karma stutters, still struggling to catch her breath. "I s-s-s-swear, it didn't come from me!"

"WHAT didn't come from you, Karma?" Sage chimes in.

"A…a talking piece of poo!"

At the sounds of the words "talking piece of poo", the ears of Yonk, SG2, Angel and )\/(ajin \/egita spring up.

"It can't be…" )\/(ajin \/egita mumbles in disbelief. Before he can say more, however, his friends are already tearing their way up the stairs and towards the bathroom, certain that what Karma has just witnessed can't be a good sign so close to Christmas.

Sure enough, as the friends throw open the bathroom door and run over to the toilet bowl, there is their old friend, floating upside down in the dank water.

"Mr. Hankey!" yells )\/(ajin \/egita, worried over the poo's injured-looking condition. "What happened to you?"

"Help…me…" he whispers weakly.

"Quick, we have to get him out of them and treat his wounds!" cries )\/(ajin \/egita, drawing less than enthusiastic looks from his fellows in the room.

"…"

"Well! Come on! What are we waiting for! He could DIE if we don't help him!"

"Yeah…" mutters SG2, rubbing the back of her head nervously. "We don't…uh…Well, we don't really want to TOUCH him, )\/(ajin \/egita…"

"Aw, Dammit! Screw you guys, then! I'LL do it!" he cries, plunging his hand into the bowl and grasping the soggy poo to the surprise-and disgust-of his friends.

"BREATH, MR. HANKEY!" he yells, leaning in to give him mouth to mouth.

"OH MY GOD!" everyone cries simultaneously, expressing the same sentiment. Even the tough-as-nails Sage can't help but clasp his hands over his mouth to try and hold in the bile forming in his throat. Finally, )\/(ajin \/egita pulls away, and Mr. Hankey is resuscitated.

"Wow…thank you so much, Maj…I surely would've died without your help!"

"Anything for you, Mr. Hankey." )\/(ajin \/egita relies sheepishly. "Unlike SOME people here, I actually CARE about you…" he says, glaring at his cohorts.

"Dude, we never said we didn't care or weren't worried about him, we're just less than eager to give frickin' mouth to mouth to a piece of poo…" )\/(ajin \/egita ignores the last comment and tries to steer the subject back to why exactly Mr. Hankey was floating injured in their toilet.

"So, Mr. Hankey, what happened to you?" asks )\/(ajin \/egita.

"Well, I'm afraid I have some bad news, children…Santa Claus…" he trails off. Everyone looks at him intently, waiting for him to go on with the news.

"What is it, Mr. Hankey? Santa is what?" asks Informer X.

"Santa is…I'm afraid Santa is dead, children."

At such terrifying, unthinkable words, everyone in the room grows completely silent, unable to do anything but stare at Mr. Hankey in disbelief. How could Santa Claus, the most joyful man in the world, be DEAD? And, so close to Christmas, how could things get any worse?

"I'm afraid…" Mr. Hankey goes on, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "…That it gets worse. I was there when Santa's sleigh went down. I saw the reindeer burst into flames. And as I flew through the air on my way to crashing to the ground to MY death, I saw Santa Claus crushed under the weight of over 500 thousand tons of presents." Everyone in the group cringes at the images of Santa's brutal death as Mr. Hankey goes on. "But even worse than the fact that Santa is dead is the fact that…I think it was…murder." Everyone gasps.

"Murder? But who would do something like that!" cries Karma.

"Well, children…whoever murdered…or to be more precise, sabotaged…Santa, is someone who hates Christmas. Someone who wants nothing more than to see joy and love and laughter of children cease and be replaced with darkness and sorrow. Someone like…"

"The Grinch!" SG2, Yonk, Angel and )\/(ajin \/egita call out at once. "But that's impossible!" cries SG2. "He's dead! We killed him! TWICE!"

"I know, I was there. The Grinch is dead, no doubt about that. It wasn't him who sabotaged Santa Claus…"

"Then…then who was it?" asks Sage, the suspense killing him.

"Well…Let me start by telling you what happened after I fell out of Santa's flaming sleigh…

_I woke up surrounded by snow. It took me a few moments to recall what had happened, and then the image hit me hard. Santa's sleigh had gone down in flames. All eight reindeer, and the big man in red himself, were dead. I was lucky to have survived such a long fall, but I was badly hurt._

_I wandered through the raging blizzard for hours, desperate to even see my own hand in front of my face through all the snow and fog. Finally, after I felt like I would collapse should I walk another two steps, I saw it ahead of me in the distance. It was a log cabin, and I saw the soft, yellow lights shining through the air. I made my way to the cabin as fast as I could, careful to keep myself from passing out from the pain by biting my tongue. After what felt like forever running towards the house I made it to the door, which to my dismay I found to be locked. Luckily for me, I found an open window by the back…though it was beyond me why someone would keep their windows open in a freezing-cold snowstorm…but nonetheless, I climbed up for all I was worth until I was inside the warm cozy shack._

_I jumped down from the windowsill and made my way down the hall, desperately searching for a bathroom with a working toilet. Suppressing my fear that the cabin owners were hicks who lacked indoor plumbing I pushed onward and, finally, discovered the glorious sparkling-white throne that would lead me out of this wasteland and back to the North Pole. Scrambling up the side of the toilet I hopped onto the flush lever, creating a swirling whirlpool within the bowl. Wasting no time I leapt into the rushing vortex, letting the currents wash me all the way back to the toilet of Santa's Workshop._

_Still breathing heavily from my wounds, I relaxed against the soothing currents of the whizzing water until I finally reached my destination. However, just as I was about to climb out and go break the news to Mrs. Claus, I heard voices approaching the bathroom. Deciding to bide my time I watched as three of the newly-recruited elves who had worked on the sleigh right before our takeoff walked into the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind them suspiciously._

Elf 1-"OK, this should be the perfect place to discuss the plan. Everyone knows you don't walk into a bathroom when the door is closed."

_At this, I became even more suspicious. What was so secretive that they would need to discuss, of all places, in the bathroom?_

Elf 2-"Yeah, I think we're safe, at least for now. Let's just keep our voices down."

Elf 3-"OK. So anyways, I just got off the phone with Queen Faerie, ruler of the Pixies."

_What? Pixies! Why would the kind-hearted Elvin sprites be in league with the most evil of all mythical sprites, the Pixies? And what kind of matter would be so important it would involve the great Queen Faerie herself? A bad feeling began to situate itself in the pit of my stomach, as the story grew deeper and deeper right in front of me._

Elf 2-"So, are we in agreement?"

Elf 3-"Yeah…the Pixies have agreed to aid us in our mission, as long as we keep our end of the deal and steal the magical Piski dust."

Elf 1-"Yes, the Piski's…the arch enemies of the Pixies, the good to their evil…that's why we're here to begin with, isn't it? That's why we've infiltrated this pathetic Christmassy toyshop disguised as disgusting little Christmas-loving elves…"

_At this point I had compelled myself to peer over the lid of the toilet, just enough so that I could see these so-called "elves" before me. Just then, I saw the second elf, the one who had seemingly been in charge when Santa took off, peel off his face…_

Elf 1-"Hahaha…when we're really the Christmas-HATING Garden Gnomes!"

_WHAT! GARDEN GNOMES! I couldn't believe my eyes, or my ears, as the conversation went on._

Elf 2-"Yes…So all we have to do is transport this Piski dust we stole from Santa and replaced with Pixie dust to the Pixies…without their dust, the Piski's are powerless, and don't stand a chance in battle against the Pixies! The Pixies will get what they want, and then they'll be more than happy to help us with their Pixie magic to do the one thing that, in addition to the death of Santa Claus, will make the ultimate Anti-Christmas a reality…"

_By this point I had become mortified, each additional word bringing even more thoughts of what horror these gnomes planned to behold to my mind._

Elf 3-"Yeah…to use these magic 'Dragonballs' the Pixies told us about and use the wish to bring The Grinch back to life!"

_Dragonballs! The Grinch! Garden Gnomes posing as elves to help the Pixies destroy the Piski's! I couldn't even believe this was all really happening, but I couldn't afford to deny it either. Waiting until the "elves" finally took their leave, I flushed my still-injured self right back down and to the only place I thought I could find someone to save Christmas…to Capsule Corporation, and to all of you._

"And so, that's how I ended up here." Mr. Hankey says, ending his long narrative. "I thought if anyone could save Christmas again it would be you guys. Unfortunately my injuries got the best of me, and I blacked out…I didn't wake up until I heard your friend Karma come into the room, so I called out 'help me'…I guess that scared her a little bit, but at least it got you all here."

"Wow…that's intense…" says Angel, having as difficult a time comprehending all the events told by the talking poo as everyone else. "So our arch enemies the Garden Gnomes are back, and they're trying to use the Dragonballs to revive our OTHER arch enemy, the Grinch? In addition to vicariously aiding the evil Pixies in wiping out the Piski's?"

"Mm-hm. And, since the Gnomes said they had stolen the magical Piski dust-the dust that year after year for the past two thousand years has helped Santa's magic sleigh and reindeer fly-I can only assume that it was the evil Pixie dust that ultimately resulted in our bad luck earlier this evening…and ended up killing Santa and the reindeer. I'm only thankful this all happened on the TEST run and I had time to learn their evil plans and seek help before the real Christmas Eve!" Mr. Hankey goes on.

"Hey, wait a minute…" chimes in Corey, finally speaking up. "If Santa is dead…then who's going to deliver the presents to all the children of the world?" This dilemma dawns on everyone else as well, and they all turn to the ever-knowledgeable Mr. Hankey for an answer.

"Well, to be honest, I hadn't even thought about that…Between Santa's death and this new evil Gnome plot to destroy Christmas, I hadn't even considered who would deliver the toys…but, I suppose, it will have to be all of you…if you'll lend Christmas your help again, that is…"

"But…" Yonk begins, "How can we stop the Gnomes AND deliver the toys at the same time? Even with my Shunkan Idou that would be all but an impossibility…"

"Well, I guess we'll just have to split up into two groups, then. Half of us will try to go get the Dragonballs before the Gnomes and stop them from resurrecting the Grinch, and the other half of us will become the makeshift Santa Clauses and deliver the gifts…" SG2 suggests.

"Well, I guess we'll have to come up with a solid plan…" muses Mr. Hankey. "But, first things first, we need to get back to the North Pole. We'll have everything we need for this mission there, in Santa's Workshop."

And so, with the knowledge that the great responsibility of saving Christmas once again rests on their shoulders, the IGNO team takes off towards the North Pole, trudging through the cold snow in the deep, star-dusted night.

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SG2 looks down at the watch strapped to her orange-striped wrist, noting the time to be 11:45 PM of December 23rd. They had officially been walking through the blizzard for one and a half hours, and don't seem to be any closer to the North Pole. At this rate…

"Hey." SG2 chimes in, tugging on Yonk's pantleg as she is only ankle-high to the Kalltoraiyajin anyways. "Do we even know how much further we have to go to get to the North Pole?"

"Uh, I don't know…But I think it's still a long way off…" he replies.

"Damn…well isn't there a faster way we can get there?" Yonk ponders this for a while, an idea coming to him briefly.

"Oh, I know! If we use my Shunkan Idou we can get there in the course of…two…seconds…uh, whoops…" he trails off as SG2 glares furiously at him. "I guess I didn't think of that…before we started walking…for an hour and a half…hehehehe…he…" he laughs nervously as the small but fierce tiger cub leaps onto his shoulder, looking him straight in the eye.

"You mean to tell me…that we've been walking…for an HOUR AND A HALF…in the COLD…in the BLIZZARD…when we could have been magically teleported straight to Santa's nice, warm workshop…IN TWO SECONDS!"

"Uh…yeah?" he grins with a 'my bad' look on his face. Moments later his face is streaked with red claw marks from the angry SG2. Taking that as a hint to get going, Yonk gathers close to all his friends, making sure they are all touching him as the Shunkan Idou teleports them from the cold snowy wasteland to Santa's Workshop in a flashing blur.

Upon arriving at the North Pole, the gang promptly makes their way down the hall, checking to make sure whether or not the "elves" have yet left on their mission. Bursting into the toyshop, the gang is surprised to see the room totally empty, not an elf to be found.

"That's more than a little suspicious, children!" Mr. Hankey calls aloud. "Even if the Gnomes are gone the REAL elves should still be here! Unless…Oh God!"

"The gang is baffled as Mr. Hankey runs straight past them all and bolts down the hallway, everyone following the panicking poo suite. Swinging open the door to Mrs. Claus' kitchen, everyone's breath hitches in their throats. Sitting on the floor, bound, gagged and tied tightly to one another, are Mrs. Claus and about a hundred elves.

"Oh my God! Mrs. Claus! Elves! What have they done to you!" calls Mr. Hankey, running over and trying his earnest to untie the bindings on the not-so-jolly denizens of the North Pole. Ville turns to Corey, who stares with a liberal collection of drool in the side of his mouth.

"What the Hell is wrong with YOU?" he asks, more than a little freaked out.

"Oh, what? Nothing, I was just realizing how much Mrs. Claus looks like Tim's Mom, all tied up S&M style like that…" he replies, wiping drool from his chin. Ville smacks him upside the head, not even able to come up with anything more to say at the subject other than "this is no time for your sick jokes, Corey!"

With the help of SG2, Yonk and Chibi Goten and Trunks, they are all untied in a matter of moments, the gag ball dropping from Mrs. Claus' mouth so she can speak.

"Oh…Oh thank you so much Mr. Hankey, I was afraid we would be stuck like that until Santa got back!" she sighs in relief. Everyone's eyes widen at the words, not wanting to break the news of Santa's death to his loving wife. However, Mr. Hankey realizes it is necessary that she know the truth, and reluctantly spills the news to her.

After a moment of reviving the fainted Mrs. Claus with some smelling salts, the gang relays the news as Mr. Hankey knows it.

"I was WONDERING what they were after!" Mrs. Claus exclaims. "They said something about the Piski dust before they stuck me with the chloroform! Next thing I knew when I came to was I was bound and gagged to a bunch of smelly little elves!"

"Hey!" protests a tiny elf. "We're not smelly!"

"Oh come now," Mrs. Claus states calmly. "We wouldn't be anywhere without you hard-working jolly little elves to help us, but let's face it. You aren't the freshest-smelling sprites around." She turns back to Mr. Hankey and the IGNO gang. "Anyways…All I know is that before they took off, they were talking to each other, saying something about meeting up with the Pixies at…Gnome Tower, I think he said…" Mr. Hankey gasps.

"Gnome Tower!" Yonk looks at him inquisitively.

"You know it, Mr. Hankey?"

"Well, I know OF it…apparently Gnome Tower is the headquarters for the Gnome Syndicate…it's where they hold all their important meetings and make deals and whatnot!"

"What!" cries out Angel. "The Garden Gnomes are part of a MAFIA!"

"Well, yeah…" he turns back to Mrs. Claus. "Mrs. Claus, quickly, you have to tell us everything you heard!"

"I'm afraid that IS all I heard, dear!" she calls back. "After they mentioned the Gnome Tower they took off…but not before trashing my kitchen and kicking me in the shins!"

"OK, let me get this straight, now…" Informer X ponders out loud to the group. "Based on what we already know, the Gnomes are in league with the Pixies, both parties for their own selfish ambitions. The Gnomes need the Pixie's help to find the Dragonballs and wish the Grinch back to life, while the Pixies need the precious Piski dust that the Gnomes stole so that their archrivals, the Piski's, are powerless against them." Everyone nods along, trying to keep up with the complexity of their dilemma. "Right…so the Gnomes are most likely heading to Gnome Tower to meet with the Pixies to make the trade…they'll hand over the Piski dust to the Pixies, and the Pixies will help them track down the Dragonballs!"

"So," Sage interjects. "If we split up, half of us can go get the Dragonballs before the Gnomes can, and the other half of us can go make sure the Pixies don't get their hands on the Piski dust!"

"But, wait…" SG2 wonders. "If we split up 50-50 to do THAT stuff…then, who will take the place of Santa and deliver the toys?" Everyone stalls, the realizations hitting them as well.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to split into groups of THREE then!" Karma suggests.

"But that's just what the Gnomes want, don't you see!" Silver barks, finally speaking up. "If we all split apart from one another, we'll be all the weaker to defend ourselves against them!"

"Well…we'll just have to make sure we all split into groups who are best for the appointed tasks, then!" Yonk decides.

And so, the IGNO team gathers into three teams, each prepared to carry out a specific operation.

Team A is the largest, consisting of SG2, Yonk, Angel, )\/(ajin \/egita, and both Chibi and teenage Goten and Trunks. This team is comprised of the most powerful fighters of the IGNO team, as they will most likely be facing the brunt of the Gnome Forces. Team A's mission? To seek out and find the seven magic Dragonballs before the Gnomes, thus preventing the resurrection of the Grinch. In addition, once all seven are gathered, the wish is intended to be used to bring the unlucky Santa Claus back to life.

Team B consists of Corey, Ville and Karma. With the special abilities of this team being more oriented to stealth rather than power-what with Karma's uncanny ability to hang from any wall or ceiling, and Ville being able to camouflage himself by transforming into inanimate objects-Team B's mission is to sneak into Gnome Tower and intercept the trade between the Gnomes and the Pixies.

Finally, Team C is made up of Sage, Silver and Informer X, with Mr. Hankey tagging along as a guide. Team C will carry out the task of delivering the Christmas presents to all the Christmas-celebrating children of the world in the unfortunate absence of Santa Claus. With the help of Silver's horse Blaze and Sage's powers to control both light and dark, the members of Team C are well-equipped to make the toy-toting journey than any of the other members of the IGNO group.

And so, at the hour of 12:25 AM, December 24th, our rag-tag heroes once again gear up for an evening of toil and trouble, knowing full well that if they don't stop the Gnomes from getting their wish, there will never be a Christmas again.

**END OF ACT 1-THE SANTA CLAUS DILLEMMA**


	2. Act II: Operation Save The Christmas

**BEGINNING OF ACT 2-OPERATION SAVE THE CHRISTMAS**

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TEAM A SCENE

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"OK, have we got the radar?" Yonk asks.

"Yup! Right here!" calls out Chibi Trunks, the Dragon Radar resting in his small hand.

"Alright then, everyone! Let's get going!" Yonk exclaims triumphantly.

"Good luck out there!" Mrs. Claus wishes them, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.

"Don't worry, Mrs. Claus!" Yonk reassures her. "We'll get the Dragonballs before those dirty Gnomes! And when we get our wish, we'll bring Santa back to life in no time!"

And with a final wave goodbye to the elves, Mrs. Claus and the rest of their friends, Team A grabs hold of Yonk and is transported to the site of the first Dragonball via Shunkan Idou. Arriving on another snowy wasteland that looked no different than the rest of the land, Chibi Trunks points the Dragon Radar in the direction where the signal is coming from, and the search begins.

"Are you sure it's around here…uh…Trunks?" asks teen Trunks, a bit confused how to address his Chibi counterpart.

"Yeah…" he says, concentrating on the signal. All of a sudden he takes the radar in both hands and shakes it rapidly before smacking it several times angrily.

"Hey, what the Hell are you doing! You're gonna break it!" )\/(ajin \/egita yells.

"Dammit, the signal is jacking off!" Chibi Trunks curses, tossing the radar into a heap of snow and proceeding to kick even more white dust onto it in a little Chibi fury.

"What do you mean?" asks Angel, walking over and digging the radar out of the snow and taking a closer look at it.

"I don't know! The stupid storm is probably interfering with the signal or something!" he barks back, still clearly aggravated.

"Now now, calm down, Chibi Trunks!" Yonk says soothingly, patting the little boy on the back. "We have an idea that the ball is around here SOMEWHERE, so all we have to do is do a little searching!"

"Besides," interjects SG2. "We know that the Gnomes are looking for the balls too, so if we just track down some Gnome Ki, we can follow them to the ball!"

"She's right, let's see…" concentrates Yonk, noting some nearby Gnome Ki. Once again using the Shunkan Idou our heroes are transported to a site where legions of Gnomes scour the area, clearly searching for the prized Dragonball.

"Look, there they are!" whispers SG2, peering over the edge of a snow banking.

"OK, so all we have to do is wait for them to find the ball and then kick their scrawny Gnome asses and get it back!" Yonk quietly exclaims. On the other side of the banking, one of the Gnomes comes running back to the others, holding a gleaming sphere in his hand. The members of Team A's eyes widen at the sight.

"Look, look!" cries the Gnome, drawing the attention of all his cohorts. "I FOUND it! THIS must be the "Dragonball" that the Pixies told us about!"

"Wow, it sure is tiny…" says another Gnome, turning the small sphere over in his hand. "THIS little thing has the power to bring the Grinch back to life?"

"Well we have no choice but to trust what the Pixies say. Come on, let's get this back to headquarters."

"Oh like HELL you will!" calls Yonk, jumping out from behind the snow banking with his friends. "That ball belongs to US!"

"Oh yeah? And who the Hell are you?"

"We're…Santa's Little Helpers!" Yonk says, producing sweatdrops on all his fellows. "Uh, well…anyways, that's not important! ATTACK!"

And with that, Team A leaps in with a flurry of punches, kicks and Ki attacks. SG2 claws furiously at the tiny fiends as Yonk launches a spectacular array of Kalltoraiyajin Ki blasts. Teen Goten and Trunks use their outstanding teamwork and are able to beat the Gnomes without even to release their Ki, merely using complex Martial Arts maneuvers. Angel flies high into the sky, out of reach from the small-statured Gnomes only to leap down and kick them with blows to the head. )\/(ajin \/egita, of course, goes classic Vegeta-style and it isn't long before Team A has the upper hand in the war for the Dragonball.

"OK, we've almost got 'em! Goten, Trunks! Finish—" Yonk is cut off as he glances over to see Chibi Goten and Trunks, not concentrating on the battle at all, but rather having a playful snowball fight. SG2 face-faults.

"Aw YES! I NAILED you, Trunks-kun!" Goten laughs aloud as a snowball pegs his friend in the face.

"Dammit Goten, you cheated!" Trunks says, trying to seem angry but unable to stop smiling. "Well take THIS!" he yells, launching snowballs back at his friend who tries to quickly build up a defensive wall of snow.

"Ugh, there's no TIME for that now! We have to—YONK!" SG2 calls out, noticing Yonk has stopped to gawk at the incredibly Kawaii sight. Taken off guard, he is immediately overtaken by a troop of Gnomes and knocked to the ground.

"Ah, Yonk!" )\/(ajin \/egita cries out, rushing in to aid his friends. "Get away, you Damn Gnomes! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" he yells, firing off a massive Renzoku Energy Dan and blowing away all of Yonk's assailants. Finally, all the Gnomes in the surrounding area are demolished, leaving the Dragonball up for grabs to Team A.

"Ugh, well THAT was certainly more trouble than it was worth…no thanks to YOU, Yonk!" SG2 barks, glaring at her long time friend.

"What? Can I help being unable to tear myself away from the adorable Chibi snowball fight long enough to help my friends from getting killed and dooming Christmas yeah you're right I'm sorry…" Yonk responds, realizing in the midst of his protest that he was indeed wrong to have abandoned the battle. "Well, it won't happen again, so let's just get to finding that second ball."

And with that, Team A is once again off, setting the joking aside to prevent the ever-looming Anti-Christmas.

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TEAM C SCENE

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The clock on the wall reads 3:00 AM as Team C assembles before Mrs. Claus in Santa's crowded workshop, the elves bustling with the necessary equipment needed to get the journey running smoothly.

"OK, you should have everything you need…now hurry and get going, there's less than 24 hours until Christmas!" Mrs. Claus cries worriedly, pacing to and fro before Team C.

"Wait a minute," Silver asks slightly confused. "I thought Santa didn't start his journey until Christmas Eve NIGHT! Why do we need to get going so early?"

"Santa has Christmas magic that enables him to make the journey so quickly! Only he can pass through the time zones so fast, unscathed by jetlag! And only he can move faster than the speed of sound and haul so much weight with no repercussions!" Mrs. Claus answers, her voice rising in volume. "You don't have those unique abilities, so you need to start as soon as possible or else there will BE no Christmas! Here." She hands over a small vial to Silver. "This is the Piski dust that enables to reindeer to fly. Sprinkle a little of this only your horse there and you'll at least be able to move a BIT quicker."

"I don't know if that's such a good idea, Mrs. Claus!" warns Mr. Hankey. "That's the Pixie dust that the Gnomes REPLACED the Piski dust with! That's the reason Santa is…well, you know…we'd better not take any unnecessary risks in using it!"

"Well then how will you fly high enough to reach the rooftops?" Mrs. Claus asks.

"Don't worry about that," Sage adds in confidently. "With my powers of light and darkness I can harness the energy of the night and get us up there! Plus, I can camouflage Silver's horse so we can move about inconspicuously!"

"Don't worry, Mrs. Claus! They didn't appoint us with this job for nothing!" Informer X assures her.

"Well then, I guess the rest is up to you!" She says. "Just follow Mr. Hankey. He's made this journey with Santa every year; he knows the way."

As Team C takes off into the blizzard, Mrs. Claus waves them off and wishes them good luck.

"I only hope they can live up to Santa's reputation and save Christmas…" she whispers into the night, a silent prayer for their safe journey.

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TEAM B SCENE

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Inside the toyshop, the elves bustle around the members appointed for Team B in Operation Save The Christmas.

"Now remember," one of the elves explains. "If you don't stop those Gnomes from making their business venture with the Pixies, Christmas is as good as doomed! Plus, you need to get that Piski dust back that they stole! Without that, your friends aren't likely to be able to deliver all those presents!"

"Don't worry, we know what we're doing." Karma assures them.

"Yeah, me and KARMA can handle it. COREY'S services won't be necessary," Ville boasts, raising a glare from the blonde teen.

"Is that so? Well maybe if I kill you now I can get all the glory for saving Christmas myself!" he calls back tauntingly.

"Oh yeah? Well come on!" Ville eggs him on, beating his chest confidently. "I'd like to see you try it! Take your best shot!"

"I'll make you EAT THOSE WORDS!" Corey screams, tackling the other boy. They wrestle back in forth as a cartoonish cloud of smoke engulfs their tussle. Karma sweatdrops.

"…Do I REALLY have to travel with them?" she asks, unable to believe her luck of getting stuck with the worst two teammates anyone could hope for.

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TEAM A SCENE

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"Say uncle!" )\/(ajin \/egita grins slyly, embedding his foot deeper in the gut of a fallen Gnome.

"N…Never!" the Gnome chokes out, unwilling to surrender the third Dragonball.

"SAY IT!" he cries, pressing all of his weight into his foot. The Gnome coughs up a small amount of blood and saliva, still refusing to give up.

"OK then, have it your way. Goten, Trunks!" )\/(ajin \/egita calls back. Both pairs of the boys answer the call, running up to him.

"What is it?" asks teenage Goten.

"Take care of this guy." he answers, walking away from the bleeding, ground-bound Gnome.

"With pleasure…" answers teenage Trunks, cracking his knuckles and grinning evilly. "OK, Chibi's! You get below the waist. Me and my Goten get some face time with the little shrimp…" The Gnome's eyes widen in anticipation of pain as teen Goten and Trunks proceed to beat his face to a bloody pulp. The next thing he feels is a pair of Chibi feet, one lodging itself in his ass and the other taking a swift crack at his crotch before he blacks out, the Dragonball dropping from his hand.

"Well, that was easy!" Chibi Goten says, grinning and picking up the ball. "Only four to go!"

"Yeah, well we'd better pick up the pace…" Angel notes, glancing at her watch. "It's already 4:28 AM, and we have to get the rest of the balls, make sure Christmas is delivered on time, AND stop the Gnomes and the Pixies from destroying the world-AND CHRISTMAS!"

"OK then, let's get going." Yonk decides. "Hey…where did SG2 go?" he asks, looking around. Looking at his feet he sees a small orange tail poking out of a snow hill, which he promptly grabs and yanks out revealing a wet SG2, coughing up snow and gasping for air.

"Ugh…Ptoo! Ptoo!" she looks up at Yonk, who still holds her by the tail. "Uh, thanks Yonk…Damn my shortness!"

"Oh lighten up SG2, you're not THAT short…" )\/(ajin \/egita points out.

"Oh bullcrap! Even ANGEL is taller than me! And she's like, what? 5' 3''!"

"Now now—" Yonk tries to calm her.

"No! Screw this, man!" she cries, trudging away from her friends and gazing to the sky. "Ahem! Uh…" Everyone looks at her intently as she inexplicably begins to sing.

"Hayasugiru toki no

Mabataki ni sara-sarete

Hitori de wa todokanai

Negai nante

Kiesouna kotoba ja…

Tadori-tsukenai…"

The others continue to look on as SG2 stands silent in the raging snow…whatever she intended to happen, not.

"Uh, OK…let's try this one, then…" she mumbles, blushing slightly and trying again.

"Ima mo imademo

Dareka no yasashii kotoba yori

Kimi no kimi dake no

Kuchibiru ni sou tokuretai…"

Nothing, still. SG2 begins to get slightly agitated, but she doesn't give up, continuing to sing into the heavens.

"Flying In The Sky!

Tataku habatake

Oozora wa dokomademo!

Shining Finger!

Kagayaku hikari ga chi no hate terashi kiseki o yobu Spell!"

Nothing.

"SG2, what the Hell are you—"

"SHUT UP!"

"Everybody, Nice! Everybody, Nice!

Ashita no kagayaki o shinjite'ru!

Everybody, Chance! Everybody, Chance!

Kono te ni tsukamaeyou…Carry On!"

"Dammit! OK, if this doesn't work…"

"Shoot For The Future!

Mada Hikaru sono basho e

Tachinokoru tame!

SUPIIDO o agete yuku!

Kasoku suru hodo!

Soba ni aru kagayaki o

Itsushika mamoritai to negatte'ta!"

Everyone continues to look disparagingly as SG2 embarrasses herself. However, to everyone-including SG2's-surprise, all of a sudden a flash of light flies through the air! Everyone shields their eyes as a giant mech descends from the sky, landing before the small tiger.

"Alright, sweet! It actually WORKED!" she exclaims, running over and hugging the giant foot of the mech before her.

"What the Hell is that! And what did you DO!" Yonk screams.

"It's…a Gundam! But…HOW!" Angel yells, baffled.

"Easy," SG2 says, looking back at her friends. "I just did a Gundam Call!"

"A…Gundam Call?" )\/(ajin \/egita asks skeptically.

"Sure! Well, technically, I just sang some of my favorite songs from various Gundam series'…looks like it worked! Check it out! Since it responded to "Shoot!" by Seki Tomokazu, this must be Yzak's Gundam from Gundam Seed!" Everyone is speechless, sweatdropping like crazy. "Ahahahahaha!" SG2 laughs with a moderate amount of insanity, leaping into the cockpit of the giant robot. "NOW who's the shortest, huh!"

Unable to come up with the right words to express in the situation, the gang just shrugs their shoulders and heads out after the fourth Dragonball.

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TEAM C SCENE

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Barely visible against the star-dotted night sky flies Blaze, Silver's black horse. The only thing standing out against the black backdrop of sky is the white stripe on Blaze's nose as he carries the valiant Team C on their toy-delivering journey.

"Oh man, this is no good, children!" Mr. Hankey notes. "It's already 4:45 AM and we've only hit the first 5 houses! There are still over 100 million left to hit and our Christmas time is running out!"

"Well then, we'll just have to go faster! Yah!" Silver cries, whipping Blaze into acceleration. However, Blaze is already exhausted, having hauled over 500 thousand tons of presents behind him for the past hour and 45 minutes. Unable to go any further, he stops, landing on the snowy ground below with a light crunch.

As Blaze breaths heavily, the members of Team C have no choice but to let the tired horse stop and rest, even if for only a minute. Informer X sighs hopelessly.

"Dammit…at this rate we'll NEVER be able to hit all the houses…We'd be lucky to hit even HALF of them! Let's face it! Christmas is doomed!"

"Now come on, Informer, don't be that way!" Sage protests.

"He's right!" Silver breaks in. "Right now SG2 and the others are out there doing their utmost to save Christmas! Hell, they've even saved Christmas twice already! They're just so determined and GOOD at what they do…They never look back, and neither should we!"

"Oh wake the Hell up, Silver!" Informer X barks at her. "Even if SG2, Yonk and the others DO manage to somehow get the Dragonballs and wish back Santa Claus, it'll already be too late! There's STILL no way all these presents will be delivered in time! Christmas is RUINED!"

Just as Silver is about to say something else, a strange noise erupts nearby. The Team C members turn towards the odd noise and all of a sudden see a jeep tearing through the snow, the four guys inside arguing amongst one another.

"I TOLD you this was the wrong way! Dammit, we should have NEVER let you drive!" cries the red-haired young man sitting in the passenger's seat. The violet-eyed blonde at the steering wheel turns to glare at him slightly.

"Well, I may be the one driving, but it's not me who was in charge of the MAP, was it?"

"Well don't look at me!" the red-haired boy cries. "It's the MONKEY who's got the map! And now, thanks to him, we're lost!"

"Don't blame me ya horny Kappa!" says the small crown-wearing boy in the backseat. "It's YOUR fault that we didn't stop ta get DIRECTIONS!" As the bickering continues, the dark-haired boy sitting in the backseat can only smile sweetly, doing his best to stay out of the intense argument.

Back with Team C, Silver's eyes widen at the sight of the jeep and the boys inside of it. However, there is little time to rejoice as the jeep comes thrashing past them. Silver calls aloud to alert them before it is too late.

"Hey! Look out for the—" but she IS too late as the jeep smashes directly into a large pine tree, getting banged-up fierce. The boys step out after a moment, continuing their verbal assault on one another.

"Aw man, NOW look what you did you trigger-happy priest!" the red-haired boy yells.

"Shut up or die." States the agitated blonde who was at the wheel.

"Would you two can it already! It's HAKKAI's car ya just wrecked! Aw man, poor Jeep, that must'a hurt like HELL!" cries the younger boy as the jeep changes shape into a small, white Dragon.

"Now now, I'm sure he's alright…" the black haired boy says, trying to mediate the situation as he takes his pet dragon into his hands. "There there, it's OK isn't it Jeep?" The dragon coos, and Team C comes to approach the quarrelsome foursome.

"Uh…are you guys OK?", asks Informer X. Silver promptly shoves him out of the way, pushing to the front of the boys.

"Gojyo! Gokou! Hakkai! SANZOOOOOOOOO!" she calls ecstatically, jumping excitedly up and down.

"Wow miss, how'd ya know are names? You're GOOD!" calls the youngest boy, apparently the one called Gokou. The red-haired Gojyo shoves him aside, moving to take Silver's hands in his.

"Don't mind the monkey, miss, he lacks civilized manners." he says charmingly, his crimson eyes sparkling. "Might I inquire your name, beautiful?"

"Uh…it's…Silver…" she says, blushing slightly.

"Well Silver, what can we do for a fine young lady like yourself?" Just then, Sage pulls Silver aside, wanting to talk to her in private.

"What the Hell are you doing! We don't have time to flirt! Christmas is waiting for us!" he whispers loudly.

"No, give me a minute, this could work in our favor!" she responds, walking back to the boys leaving a confused Sage behind her.

"Sorry about that…" she grins widely. "Now, what were you saying about doing something for me?"

"Sure, anything you need!" he says lovingly.

"Well, there IS one teensy, tiny little thing you could do for us…" Silver muses. "See, me and my friends here are taking the place of Santa Claus this year since he's feeling a little…under the weather…but at this rate, we'll never be able to reach all the houses in time! Of course, if we had a nice jeep like yours and four big, strong boys to help us out…" On the sidelines, Informer X and Sage can do nothing but stare as the crimson-eyed boy actually buys into the act.

"I'd like nothing better than to help you, dear! Jeep, transform! We're gonna save Christmas!" Gojyo declares, just before Sanzo pulls him aside.

"Are you INSANE, fool!" he says in his usual tone. "We have our OWN mission!"

"Oh c'mon Sanzo, it's fer CHRISTMAS!" Gokou butts in. "Can'tcha have a li'l Christmas spirit an' help those in need just once a year?"

"What? We're CONSTANTLY delaying our journey to help 'those in need'! I for one am sick and TIRED of it!"

"Well it's Hakkai's Jeep, so it's not UP to you!" Gojyo barks. "What do you say, Hakkai? Why not take a little detour just this once, for Christmas?" Not one to turn down someone in need, Hakkai smiles and nods.

"Oh alright, we'll help you." He says.

"Yeah! Christmas Christmas!" Gokou yips excitedly. "With all th' toys an' the candy an'—" He is cut off as Gojyo clasps a hand around his mouth.

"OK, if you're gonna act like that, you're not COMING." He mutters. Turning to the blonde, he says, "Well Sanzo, it's three against one, you lose! Now are you in, or do we leave you here to rot in the snow?" Reluctantly, the blonde agrees. "Fine. But I'm not HAPPY about it…" he grits out, climbing back into the driver's seat before Gojyo stops him.

"Oooooh no, we're not letting YOU drive again! We don't want to get lost and ruin Christmas, do we? Hakkai's driving!"

And with that, Informer X, Sage and Silver load up the presents and hitch Blaze to the front of the crowded jeep.

"Alright, is everyone ready?" Hakkai asks, turning the key in the ignition. Taking everyone's nods as the signal, they begin to move.

"Hey, wait a minute, where's Mr. Hankey?" asks Sage, just as the jeep lurches forward as if hitting a small speed bump. "Oh no, don't tell me that was—"

Sure enough, as Hakkai backs the jeep up, there lies a smooshed piece of Christmas poo in the snow.

"Oh…crap…" says Informer X, breaking the speechlessness of the group. Suddenly, two little boys-one in a red poofball hat and the other in a green mudflap hat-appear randomly on the scene.

"Oh my God! They killed Mr. Hankey!" the boy in the red poofball hat cries.

"YOU BASTARDS!" screams the green-hatted boy, and as quickly and suddenly as they appeared, they are gone, leaving our heroes perplexed in their wake.

"Well, now what! Mr. Hankey was the only one who knew the delivery route! We're SCREWED!" cries Informer X.

"Not yet we're not!" Silver calls out hopefully. "We've still got his list! This isn't over yet! Fly, Blaze! Fly! We're gonna save Christmas is it's the last thing we do!"

And with that, Sage enchants the jeep and Blaze with his magic powers and they once again fly off into the snowy night.

"I wonder how Karma's group is doing…" Silver ponders as they dash through the snowy air…

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TEAM B SCENE

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"I'm probably going to regret asking this, but…" Karma begins, looking at the scene around her. "Why, when we're supposed to be stopping GNOMES, are we at the MALL!" She exclaims as the two teenage boys at her side peruse the corridors of the mall.

"We're supposed to be saving CHRISTMAS! We don't have TIME for this!" she cries as Ville and Corey continue to ignore her.

"Aw lighten up Karma!" Ville tells her. "We're just making a quick pit stop on the way to the Gnome Tower, it's all good!"

"Yeah, I can't forget to get a gift for Tim's mom!" Corey chimes, running gleefully into…the lingerie department. Karma just sweatdrops as she and her snake head over to the food court.

"Well, might as well run with it…Guess we can get a quick bite to eat before we reach Gnome Tower, no use fighting on an empty stomach, righ—" And she is cut off as a large duffle bag is thrown over her head and dragged off by a pair of Garden Gnomes. Meanwhile, Ville chases after Corey on the other side of the mall.

"Corey, wait up!" he calls, causing his blonde friend to turn and face him.

"What is it?" he asks irritably.

"Well, I hate to say it, but Karma's right…we'd better do what we have to do here and get back to work…SG2 and the others are out there saving Christmas and we're, what? Buying lingerie for Tim's mom? That's just wrong. I mean, look what—" Ville stops as he notices what Corey is holding in his hand. "What the Hell are those?"

"Oh, these? Edible panties."

"WHAT! WHAT THE HELL ARE THOSE FOR!"

"Well, you know…When you have—" Ville clasps a hand over Corey's mouth.

"I'm BEGGING you not to finish that sentence." They are interrupted as suddenly a cry echoes through the mall. Ville's and Corey's eyes widen in terror.

"Please tell me that wasn't…" Corey trails off.

"Yeah…that was Karma's voice…" Ville replies, grabbing Corey's wrist. "Come on, we've got to go find her!"

And with that, the boys take off tearing through the mall, knocking down several last-minute shoppers in their wake.

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TEAM A SCENE

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"How do you think the others are doing?" asks SG2, tramping through the snow in her Gundam as the others follow close by.

"I'm not sure…I can feel all their Ki so they're OK, but who knows how they're doing as far as saving Christmas?" Yonk muses aloud. "Well, we've got 5 of the Dragonball now. According to the Radar-or as best an approximation the radar can get in this storm-the next ball is due east…I sense a lot of Gnome Ki there as well, so I'd say that's where we should head next."

"OK then, let's get going." Replies SG2.

"Uh…but, how…with that robot thing…I mean…how can I Shunkan Idou you!" Yonk asks.

"Just…I dunno, come touch the Gundam or something..."

"OK, right…" Yonk mutters, placing a hand on the cold metal shell of the robot as he touches his fingers to his forehead. However, just as the Shunkan Idou is initiated, a huge avalanche of snow torrents down onto half of the team, isolating them from Yonk and the others. Everyone touching Yonk is teleported away, leaving the others behind…

As those left behind struggle to dig themselves free, a fierce gust of wind whizzes by at that very moment, blowing the friends apart...

"Aaah! The wind's too strong!" Angel cries as her wings catch the updraft and she is carried away. )\/(ajin \/egita struggles to keep his grip on the nearby cliff face.

"Dammit! Hold on everyone!" cries teen Trunks, going Super Saiyajin and grabbing his friends tightly. Thinking fast, he blasts a nearby snow banking, creating somewhat of a cave-opening inside. Before the wind can split the friends up further, they dive into the shelter and hold on tight.

"Whoa, that was close…quick thinking, Trunks!" )\/(ajin \/egita applauds him.

"No, that was nothing…" Trunks says modestly. "But now Yonk, SG2, Goten and…uh, my Chibi self…have taken off without us! And Chibi-me has the Dragon Radar!"

"Great! Now what do we do!" Angel questions. "We can't Shunkan Idou back to them, and in this storm it's difficult to even make out their Ki signals!"

"Well guys," begins Trunks. "We know where the Radar was pointing, right? We'll just have to set off to that place by foot and hope we meet up with the others on the way…" he amends.

"Big Trunks-kun is right!" calls out Chibi Goten, trying not to be forgotten amongst the group of near-adults. "We can't just give up yet!"

The others nod and decide to sit tight in their makeshift igloo until the snow subsides enough for them to begin their separated journey…

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TEAM A1 SCENE-THE SPLIT-APART SG2, YONK, CHIBI TRUNKS AND TEEN GOTEN

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"OK, everyone, we're—" Yonk pauses, looking around to notice four members of his group are missing. "Wait a minute…where's Angel? And )\/(ajin \/egita? And half of our Goten and Trunks?"

"I think…I think we lost them!" SG2 cries out, desperately seeking her friends' Ki signals. "Crap…it's no use! I can't even sense them in this storm!"

"Rats…and the Radar's COMPLETELY lost the signal on the ball we were tracking!" Chibi Trunks cries aloud.

"Dammit…I think that wind blew us off course, besides…Trunks, can you get a signal on any other balls nearby?" Yonk asks the tiny boy. He nods, pushing in the button of the radar a few times.

"Yeah…the seven-star ball's reading is showing up…but it's ALL the way over in that direction…" he notes, pointing to the south.

"I don't think I should use my Shunkan Idou anymore, guys." Yonk asks, drawing confused looks from his friends. "At least not until this snow dies down. If something else happened, we could get split up even more…we need to stick together, the four of us, until we find the others…until then, even if it takes us a long time, and uses all of our energy, we've got to continue on foot."

"What! That's insane!" teen Goten protests. "We've only got…" he glances at his watch, which now reads 6:15 AM. "…like 19 hours until Christmas! Everyone is separated from everyone else, and we can't even get a straight signal on the Dragonballs, let ALONE the Gnomes! If we spend hours just WALKING to the next place, we could be too late!"

"I hate to say it, but Goten has a point…" SG2 acknowledges. "But…" she adds, looking at Goten. "Yonk has a better point. I mean, think of it this way. Right now we've been split into four groups…what if we ended up, the four of us, getting split up so we're all on our own? In this storm, where we can't even sense each other, let ALONE fly anywhere, who KNOWS what could happen! And in the meantime, the Grinch could have come back to life and started destroying Christmas!" Everyone is silent, considering SG2's point. "Right now, we have to concentrate on staying together. If that means taking a little extra time to walk on foot, then so be it."

"Yeah…I've still got SOMEWHAT of a reading on the radar anyways…uh…big version of Goten…san…we have to at least TRY." Chibi Trunks speaks out.

"Fine…" sighs Goten, giving into his friends' ideas. "Let's go."

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TEAM C SCENE

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With the help of Sage's enchanted powers of manipulating the night, the Gensomaden Saiyuki Jeep-with Silver's horse Blaze tethered to the head-continues to pull forward through the night, the snow now raging before them.

"Dammit, I can't even see two feet in front of me through this snow!" Gojyo complains as Hakkai sits idly at the wheel, not very able to drive a magically flying jeep.

"Now now, Gojyo, let's not make worse of a bad situation…" Hakkai says calmly, trying to sooth his cranky friend. "We're more or less along for the ride, here, so we might as well just enjoy it!"

"Uh, I guess you're right…" Gojyo admits, folding his arms behind his head and reclining. Silver, who is mounted on Blaze and holding tight to the reigns, looks back at her fellows in the jeep.

"Don't worry," she says. "We've got Mr. Hankey's list and a good compass…Informer X, how many houses have we hit since we've been in the jeep?" she asks the boy in the back of the jeep.

"Well, since we've been in the jeep we've already hit 35 houses…in addition to the 5 we got prior, that makes 40 houses done out of…108 million total…Wow, when you look at it like that, it seems far less impressive…" he says disparagingly.

"Crap…Sage, is there anything we can do to move faster?" Silver asks.

"Short of hijacking a super jet? Not much." Sage comments, trying to talk over the sound of the roaring snow. "But…well if we got more horses or something, they could tow the weight easier and we wouldn't have to take THAT into account…" he adds.

"More horses, eh?" Silver ponders, scratching her chin. "Make a turn here, boys, I've got a plan."

A bit perplexed by the odd tone in Silver's voice, Hakkai nonetheless turns the Jeep towards the right and downward, wondering just what Silver has in mind.

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TEAM B SCENE

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"KARMA!" calls Ville, he and Corey dashing fiercely through the crowded mall towards the place from which their friends' cry arose.

"Do you think the Gnomes got her?" asks Corey, trying to control his words as he breaths hard, running fast enough to keep up with Ville.

"I don't know…but why would the Gnomes be in a mall?" Ville asks.

"I dunno, same reason as us maybe. Last minute Christmas shopping."

"You dumbass Corey! Gnomes HATE Christmas! Why the Hell would they be SHOPPING!"

"Why not?"

"Oh just shut up and run faster!"

On the other side of the mall, Karma is trapped in a duffle bag, being carried through the electronics department by angry beady-eyed gnomes. She tries to fight her way through the tight-clothed prison, but to her dismay is unable to break free. A gnome turns down, talking so she can hear him.

"Heh, struggle all you want, it's not going to do you any good!" he exclaims gleefully. "This bag is made of the same material of Chinese Finger Traps-the more you struggle, the more stuck you become! Hahahahahaha!"

"Dammit…" Karma mutters, nonetheless trying to chew through the material, her snake aiding her as well. Suddenly, she feels the bag drop from the gnome hands as a large impact sound echoes nearby. Ville and Corey have arrived, and Corey dropkicks the gnomes to the ground, causing Karma's bag to skid across the mall floor.

"Karma!" Ville calls aloud. "Are you in that bag? It's me and Corey, we'll get you out!" Ville turns to Corey and both take stances against the gnomes as they are quickly surrounded. "OK Corey…I'm going to transform into a metal baseball bat! I want you to use me to beat these gnomes, alright?" In a poof of smoke, a metal bat now lies on the floor where Ville stood only moments ago. Grabbing the bat in his hands, Corey begins to smash not only the gnomes but all nearby electronics, from televisions to computers right down to the glass encasements behind which videogames are stored. It isn't long before all the gnomes lie defeated and bleeding on the ground…amidst a brilliant array of broken glass and machinery parts. Ville turns back into his human form, the sight horrifying him.

"What the Hell! COREY!" he screams at the blonde boy.

"What?" Corey asks, clearly not seeing what is wrong with what he has just done.

"You IDIOT, look at all the stuff you broke!"

"Yeah, so?"

"So, WE'RE going to have to PAY for all of it, you ASSHOLE!"

"Oooooh no, I'm not paying for this! YOU'RE the one who broke it all!" Corey protests, amending that since Ville was the tool with which the items were broken he should claim full responsibility.

"Yeah! Because you can't even lay your hands on a frickin' baseball bat without wreaking havoc!" Ville shoots back. Through their arguing, they hear a weak voice nearby.

"Uh, guys…" Karma mutters from inside the bag. "Can you get me out now? Please?" Even as the words spill from her lips, Karma can't help but wonder what horrible things she did to deserve the punishment of being teamed up with Ville and Corey.

Moments later, Karma and her snake are released, and she gets to her feet.

"Thanks," she mutters, realizing that without their mall pit stop she wouldn't have needed their help to begin with. "I couldn't use my Kodachi in such a restricted space…"

"No problem. I just wish we could have—" Ville is cut off abruptly as all of a sudden a middle-aged woman, looking to be in her fifties or so, comes up and grabs him by the wrist.

"Jimmy, there you are!" she says, a tone of relief in her voice. "Where have you been? Grandma's been looking all over this store for you!" Ville is speechless-as are his comrades-as the woman begins to drag him down the corridors of the mall. "Come on now, Jimmy, we need to be getting back to Grandpa!"

"But…but I'm not—" Ville tries to protest.

"You're not hungry for stewed beets and prunes, I know…" she finishes his sentence. "But I'll tell you what, if you're a good boy, Grandma will take you out for ice cream later! Just don't tell Grandpa!"

"Yeah, but, I'm not—"

"Not in the mood for ice cream? Well, I can't blame you, it is aweful cold outside…fine then, Grandma will get you a nice hot Cocoa instead, how does that sound?" Ville struggles to pull his wrist free from the old woman, surprised at how strong her grip is. Finally managing to tug his arm loose, he pulls away and looks at his apparent captor.

"Look lady, I don't know who you think I am, but I'm NOT your grandson, OK?" Ville barks, not considering the poor woman's feelings. After examining the boy in front of her for a moment, the woman's expression changes to one of…shocked enlightenment.

"You're right, you're NOT my grandson!" she exclaims. "Then…then where's Jimmy!" And with that, the woman tears off through the store, frantic to find her missing grandson. It isn't until a few minutes later, as he rejoins his friends, that Ville realizes the poor woman's plight. So close to Christmas, a heavy guilt sets into the pit of his stomach as he leads his comrades back to the direction the woman ran off to, realizing helping those in need is more important than battling Gnomes at Christmas time.

_I'm leaving it in your hands, SG2…_he thinks to himself in regards to the situation. The rest…could wait.

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TEAM A2 SCENE-THE SPLIT-APART ANGEL, )\/(AJIN \/EGITA, CHIBI GOTEN AND TEEN TRUNKS

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"So…who are you guys?" Angel asks, confused by the odd pair standing before her. A junior-high aged boy with ground hair gestures to himself as he introduces he and his friend.

"My name's Oozora Reiji!" he exclaims confidently. "And this here's my pal Chibisuke!" he says, pointing to the small, sickly-looking dragon beside him, his white color blending him with the falling snow.

"Well, nice to meet you, Reiji…" )\/(ajin \/egita says. "What are you doing so far out here? I didn't expect that we would meet any other human beings so far north…"

"Well, we didn't expect to end up here, either." Reiji explains. "See, me and Chibisuke were out playing our favorite virtual reality game, Dragon Drive, and this is where we got sent. It sends you to a different location every time, but I had never seen a place like this before." He goes on. "To be honest, we've just been training to beat that snotty Himuro Hikaru, smug bastard…"

"So…" Angel breaks in, trying to focus and not be distracted by the Kawaii sight of Chibi Goten playing with the small dragon in the snow. "Are you guys doing anything in particular? Cuz see, the thing is, we got separated from our friends and in this storm we can't seem to find them…"

"Your friends?"

"Yeah…we actually had split up into groups, but even our group got separated further in this weather. Fact is…well you probably won't believe me, but we're trying to save Christmas."

"Christmas? Well in that case, sure we'll help!" he turns to his dragon. "Right, Chibisuke?"

"Gii! Gii!" barks the small beast. All of a sudden, the others step back as Chibisuke is engulfed in a blinding light…next thing they know, Reiji is grinning widely as a gigantic dragon is standing in Chibisuke's place. What's left of Team A's jaws drop to the ground in utter shock.

"Alright guys, hop on! We'll use the Netvigator to try and track your friends down!" he says, whipping out a small cell-phone looking device. The others hop up onto the dragon's back as it lifts off into the sky. Reiji pets its head and points beyond the horizon.

"That way, Chibisuke! Fly! We're gonna help save Christmas!"

The huge dragon bellows, his enormous wings creating tremendous gales in his wake as the team flies directly into the storm, thankful to have run into such a kind person.

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TEAM A1 SCENE-THE SPLIT-APART SG2, YONK, CHIBI TRUNKS AND TEEN GOTEN

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"The MALL?" asks SG2 as she looks around the bustling scene. "The Radar led us to the MALL!" Chibi Trunks examines the radar in his hand, a faint signal beeping in and out but clearly showing the ball in their general area.

"That's what it says…" he mutters, taking a few steps forward and trying to get a better signal. "It's not impossible, you know. We might as well take a look around…"

"He's right, SG2. There are weirder places it could be…" Yonk assures her. She sighs.

"Yeah, I guess s—" all of a sudden she cuts off her speech and spins her head around. Yonk, Chibi Trunks and Goten look at her in concern.

"SG2-san? What's wrong?" asks teen Goten confused.

"N…nothing…it's just…" she goes on. "I could have SWORN I just sensed the Ki of Karma, Corey and Ville over in that direction…"

"What? I don't feel anything…" Yonk says, trying to sense it out as well.

"Yeah…I guess you're right, I mean, they're supposed to be stopping the Gnome/Pixie meeting, why would they be at the—" her nervous laughter turns to an angry glare at the sight of Corey running past. "WHAT THE HELL! COREY!" shortly after Corey follow Ville and Karma, and SG2's expression grows more and more ferocious. "WHAT ARE THEY DOING AT THE MALL! WE'RE OUT BUSTING OUR ASSES TO SAVE CHRISTMAS, AND THEY'RE SHOPPING!" Before the others have a chance to stop her, SG2 is already gone, bolting down the crowded corridors of the mall and shoving any shopper unlucky enough to get in her way.

"…OK, SHE'S gone…" Yonk says, sweatdropping. He looks at the boys. "Well, she'll catch up later. Right now let's just focus on getting that…" the boys watch Yonk in confusion as he sniffs the air like some sort of fox.

"Uh, Yonk-san?" Chibi Trunks says, trying to get his attention. It fails, and soon yet another of their teammates takes off running down the other end of the mall. Chibi Trunks looks up at the older version of his lifelong friend.

"…Should we follow him?"

"Probably be a good idea…SG2's enough trouble on her own, LAST thing we need is Yonk-san getting himself into trouble…" teen Goten replies.

"…Yeah…especially since the direction he went down leads to…the little boy's department, oh God!" and in a second, the mismatched pair of Goten and Trunks take off after their Kalltoraiyajin friend.

Meanwhile, Yonk dashes not to the little boy's department, but rather into the food court, still sniffing at the air like an animal. Turning into General Ramen's Authentic Asian Cuisine, he stops dead in his tracks at the confirmation of what his nose detected. There, sitting on a stool pulled right up to the counter sits Uzumaki Naruto, stuffing his face with ramen. Yonk's mouth waters at the combination of the delicious smell and the sight of his recent favorite Manga character. Sitting beside him are his teammates Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and of course their master Hatake Kakashi, who sits reading his favorite book of…questionable material. Yonk approaches the counter as nonchalantly as possible…however as he trips over the table, bumps into a waiter and knocks down a little girl it is hard NOT to draw attention to himself, so he blushes with embarrassment before sitting down at the counter, trying his utmost to pretend as if nothing happened.

"N-N-N-Naruto-kun…" he says, causing the blonde boy to turn and face him, mouth full of ramen. "H-h-h-hi, my n-n-n-name's Yonk and you don't know who I am but I know who you are..." Naruto shoots him an awkward look and Yonk tries to explain himself, only managing to dig himself in deeper. "I mean, no it's not like that, I'm not like a stalker or anything like that! I mean, I read your Manga…or rather, Kishimoto-Sensei's Manga…about you, I mean, since you're a fictional character in a book and all, and—" he sighs, finally realizing nothing he can say at this point can clear him of the fool he just made of himself. One could imagine his surprise, then, when the blonde boy turns to him and slides his bowl of ramen closer, producing another pair of chopsticks.

"Hey." He says, drawing a shocked gasp from Yonk. "Want some?" Unable to find any more suitable words, Yonk nods rapidly.

"S-s-s-sure."

Chibi Trunks and Goten stand in the door to the Ramen shop, relieved that Yonk could have done a lot worse than make a fool of himself in front of his idol.

"Still, I hope SG2 isn't doing anything drastic…" Chibi Trunks whispers to himself.

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TEAM B SCENE

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Ville, Corey and Karma race after the frantic old woman as she searches desperately for her lost grandson. Too distracted to feel SG2's presence in the mall, the team is thus unaware that the tiger is tearing her way right after them down the mall, a mad fury gleaming in her eyes.

"Wait up!" Ville calls out breathlessly to the old woman. "We wanna HELP you!" So lost in her frantic search, the woman doesn't even hear Ville, nor does she notice the trio tailing her.

"JIMMY! HANG ON, JIMMY! I SWEAR I'LL GET YOU BACK!" she cries. All of a sudden, seemingly a result of her shout, the surrounding area of the mall is engulfed in a white light. A shrouded voice calls out from the shadows…

"Did someone call for something to be…Got back?" Karma pricks up her ears at the familiar voice. "Well, then you're in luck, ma'am…" The shadows dissipate and two teenage boys stand back-to-back, their arms folded. One is a blonde wearing a long green jacket and brown bermuda shorts. The other is slightly taller and slimmer, with spiky brown hair and piercing blue eyes. He wears a white button-down and black beatnik-esque sunglasses about the tip of his nose. It is the latter who speaks.

"…Because the GetBackers never fail to disappoint!" Everyone sweatdrops at the boy's words, and his blonde partner taps him on the shoulder, whispering in his ear.

"I think you meant to say we never disappoint, Ban-chan, not we never FAIL to disappoint…" he says softly.

"Oh, crap, is that what I said? No wonder we haven't been getting much business lately…Ahem, anyways…" he addresses the crowd of onlookers again, turning to the woman. "You, old lady!" she looks up. "Yeah, if I'm not mistaken, THIS belongs to you?" he steps back, revealing a small boy standing behind him. The woman's eyes widen and brim with tears at the sight.

"Jimmy!"

"Gramma!" he runs to her and hugs her tightly as she looks up to the boys.

"Oh, thank you so much! You got him back for me!"

"Heh, of course we did. We're the GetBackers, after all!" the brown-haired boy says confidently. The blonde smiles and nods.

"Oh, how can I ever repay you!" she asks, to which the blue-eyed boy seems to already have thought this through.

"Oh, it's nothing really…although…or general retrieval fee is about…¥50,000…"

"What! Ban-chan don't take advantage of this sweet old—"he is cut off as Ban clasps a hand over his mouth.

"Shut UP, Ginji, do you want to get paid or not!" unable to speak, the blonde Ginji nods nervously as Ban goes back to speaking to the old woman. "So, do we have a deal?"

"Well, I actually…I mean…" The boy looks at her intently. "…What is 'yen'?" both retrievers face-fault at the query. After a moment, they spring back go their feet and Ban moves so that he and the woman are face-to-face.

"What! What the Hell kind of question is that! What do you MEAN what is yen! It's money! Cash! Semollions! Big boys! Chedda! CURRENCY, for Christ Sakes!"

"What? No, I've never heard of that before…"

"What th' Hell d'ya MEAN you've 'never heard of that'! What the Hell do you use to BUY things!"

"Well, we have MONEY, but it's not called 'yen', it's called 'Zeni'!"

"WTF! 'Zeni'?" back on the sidelines, Ville turns to Karma.

"THAT'S what money is called in this universe?" he asks her.

"Yeah…I've only read Dragonball Vol. 1-5, but now that I think about it that IS what they were calling their money…" she turns back to the GetBackers and the woman with grandson as they continue to make spectacle of themselves.

"Well…we don't have any use for THAT kind of money…" Ban thinks aloud. Ginji taps him on the shoulder once again to get his attention.

"Well if we can't use her money, Ban-chan, why not just leave it for FREE?"

"What? Dammit Ginji!"

"What? It's Christmas! It's the spirit of giving! Of kindness!"

"'KINDNESS' doesn't put food on the table or keep the car out of impoundment, Ginji! But..." he smiles at his friend. "…I guess, just this once, we can let it go for free."

"Oh, thank you! Thank you SO much! I'll never forget you as long as I live, GutCrackers!" the boys face fault again.

"What! Man, it's GETBACKERS!" by the time the words are out, however, the woman and her grandson are already gone. The shoppers break up the crowd and return to their shopping as the GetBackers stand there in embarrassment. Team B walks up to them, Karma leading the pack, her face red with the nervousness of meeting her idols-particularly the attractive Ban Midou.

"Hey, that was a really nice thing you did for that woman." Ville commends.

"Yeah, well…" Ban mumbles to himself, a bit upset he let a perfectly good client walk away without getting paid.

"H-h-h-hey…" Karma manages to get out. "I was wondering, w-w-w-what if WE hired you to do a job?"

"N? Depends. You got REGULAR money?" Ban asks her.

"Well, not yen, but we have American dollars…" she responds.

"Well, I guess that's fine, nothin' says we can't convert it over later." He amends. "Well, we're kinda in the middle of a job right now, but OK, deal. What is it you need us to do?"

"Well, this may sound strange at first, but…well, Santa Claus was killed by the evil Garden Gnomes, who are in league with the Pixies in an effort to wipe out the Piski's and bring the Grinch back to life to destroy Christmas…we're supposed to be stopping the fateful meeting of the Gnomes and the Pixies in their mobster headquarters right now, but we got a bit distracted…"

"Wait a minute, that sounds familiar, Ban-chan…" Ginji says.

"Yeah, you're right…wait, you guys wouldn't happen to be "Team B", would you?"

"What! How'd you know that?" Corey asks.

"Heh, I knew it! We're actually here to help you guys!" he says. "Mrs. Claus sent us! She said you would probably get distracted and need some help with this one!"

"Well, this all worked out for the best then, us coming to the mall, didn't it?" Ville laughs, sticking his tongue out at Karma. She ignores the comment.

"Well, we'd better get going then. Come on, guys!"

And with that, the spruced-up Team B turns tail and heads towards the nearest exit, ready to leave the Christmas madness at the mall and get back to business…still unaware that an angry SG2 is heading the opposite direction, coming right for them.

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TEAM A2 SCENE-THE SPLIT-APART ANGEL, )\/(AJIN \/EGITA, CHIBI GOTEN AND TEEN TRUNKS

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"Wow, getting her sure was a lot easier with Chibisuke!" Angel calls against the raging snow. "Thanks for all your help, Reiji!"

"Yeah, who'd have guessed that the Netvigator could lead us to the Gnomes who had the next Dragonball?" )\/(ajin \/egita says.

"Yeah!" Goten smiles brightly, holding the 6-star Dragonball in his small hand. "This ball, with the 5 SG2-san and the others already have, means there's one left!"

"Yeah, and it's probably the one that they went after…" Trunks says, looking into the distance. "So, if we follow the signal to them, we'll not only catch up to the others but I'm sure they've gotten the 7th ball by now…and we can get our wish and bring back Santa, saving Christmas!"

"Alright Reiji, where does the Netvigator say the others are?" Angel asks, leaning over the boy's shoulder as he examines the device.

"Well, there's a reading of a LARGE group of people in this area…It's probably worth checking out." He says back.

"OK, then, let's head to that signal!" )\/(ajin \/egita says, glancing at his watch. "Man, the time's sure flown! It's almost noon! Only 12 more hours until Christmas!"

"Then we'd better hurry…" Reiji says seriously, taking hold of Chibisuke and flying as hard as they can through the storming night.

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TEAM A1 SCENE-YONK, CHIBI TRUNKS AND TEEN GOTEN (MINUS SG2 AT THE MOMENT)

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"I know, but the reading IS coming from this mall!" Chibi Trunks cries, the radar recovered from its malfunctions after being inside the warm mall for a time. "Looks like…over there! In the jewelry department!"

"Jewelry!" Goten asks, the lightbulb going off in his head. "Of course! A Dragonball could EASILY be sold off as a piece of jewelry! Come on, we'd better hurry before someone buys it!"

"What about Yonk-san?"

"Oh, right…Hold on, I'll get him." Goten runs inside the Ramen shop, drawing Yonk's attention away from his new ramen-loving ninja pal.

"Yonk-san! We found the last Dragonball! Come on!"

"What?" he asks, a bit stunned.  
"Aw man, do you really have to go so soon?" Naruto asks sweetly. Conflicted, Yonk struggles to decide his next move-stay and eat all the Ramen he can with the coolest ninja-dunce in Konohagakure, or get back to Operation Save The Christmas.

"Yonk-san, come on!" Goten calls impatiently.

"I…have to go…I'm sorry…" he says, finally making up his mind. Naruto turns his eyes down to his bowl, sadly.

"Oh…Well, it was nice meeting you…"

"Well…why don't you come with me?"

"Huh?"

"Come on, it'll be fun!"

"Well, I guess…can the other members of my team come too?" he asks, his blue eyes glowing brightly.

"Well, if you're coming you'd better make up your mind now!" Goten bellows, growing more and more impatient with the passing seconds, tapping his foot on the tile floor.

"Kakashi-Sensei, is it OK?" he calls to his Jonin master, causing him to look up from his pornographic book.

"What? Alright, fine. We're not on a mission anyways, we just came here to get a last minute gift for Lord Hokage…" he says, turning back to his book. "It could be good experience. Sasuke, Sakura, come on." The others nod and rise from their table, running after Naruto and Yonk, who run after Goten, who runs after Chibi Trunks who runs after the radar's signal.

"Crap, it's moving!" he grits out, running as fast as his Chibi legs can carry him. "Someone's already BOUGHT it!

Moments later, the gang has caught up to a middle-aged looking man who holds, sure enough, the 7-star ball on a chain in his hand.

"Man, Margaret's going to LOVE this! Then she'll HAVE to forgive me for sleeping with her sister!" he says to himself. He is caught off guard as in an instant a little boy, two teenage boys, and a hyperactive Ninja tackle him from behind, sending him sprawling to the ground.

"What the Hell! I know it's the Christmas rush but watch where you're going!" he barks angrily.

"Please forgive my friends, mister, they get a bit crazy during the holidays…" Sakura says, smiling sweetly. To herself, she then thinks _Chah! That was AWESOME the way he slid across the floor and nearly cracked his skull on the concrete!_, the Inner Sakura shining through.

"Well, I guess I could forgive…WHAT THE HELL!" he cries as the gang runs off with the Dragonball. "Hey, give that back! I paid 7,000 Zeni for that so my wife would take me back for having a three-way with her mother and her dog!" the man turns to Kakashi, standing over him and shooting him a look. "Uh, I mean…that is…"

"No need to explain." Kakashi states calmly. "Just reminds me of something I read once."

And with that, the Jonin master takes off in a calm stride after the rest of his team, Yonk, and the boys, leaving the man still on the floor behind him, perplexed to all Hell.

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TEAM A1 SCENE-THE SOLITARY SG2

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"I swear to GOD, when I get my paws on those guys, they are SOOOOO dead!" SG2 fumes, storming through the packed mall after her friends who aren't doing what they are supposed to be. Lucky for SG2, her short size allows her to slip between the legs of all the shoppers, avoiding the brunt of the crowds and getting where she needs to be quicker-NOT lucky for Team B. All of a sudden, though, she crashes into a shoe…looking up to see a familiar face.

"What? Katie Goslin? What the Hell are you doing here?" SG2 asks confused. Katie says nothing, only moving to flip off SG2 before she moves back down the mall.

"What the Hell? Don't flip me off you son of a bitch! Come back here!" but in a moment, Katie has vanished into the crowds, leaving SG2 bewildered as to her appearance in the first place.

Not only that, but the very presence of the mall seems to shift and change, the feeling in the air taking on a strange, dark power…almost as if SG2 is slipping into a bizarre dream. Rubbing her eyes, she shakes her head and continues to move forward, trying not to notice that where were once crowds of last-minute shoppers before her are now legions of professional wrestlers, bikers, and angry midgets (who are still taller than SG2, albeit only slightly). SG2 tries to convince herself it is only her imagination, continuing onward.

"This…is getting really weird." SG2 amends, unable to convince herself she is imagining this weirdness. All of a sudden, she bumps into another person's shoe, becoming angry this time around. "Dammit people, can't you watch where you—" She is surprised to look up and see a midget glaring at her, standing only slightly taller than the tiger herself. He has a shaved head and several piercings, between his eyebrows, nose and ears and even one on his lip. He wears a tattered leather jacket and a silver necklace of a skull head. The T-shirt beneath his jacket reads "bite me".

"You got a problem wit me, kitty-cat?" he asks angrily.

"As a matter of fact, I do!" SG2 barks back, not afraid of the tiny man's "tough" appearance. "I'm trying to walk here and you got in my way! Now MOVE you ass, or I'll move it FOR you!"

"Aw, wookit dis, da widdow kitty wants to fight!" he says in a mock-child voice. Peeling off his jacket and tossing it to the floor, he beats a hand against his chest confidently. "Well bwing it on widdow—" before he can even finish his sentence he is on the ground, covered in claw marks. SG2 just hums and continues onward…the fallen midget behind her whistles, calling forth another 3 cohorts looking much like their comrade. One pulls a knife out, snarling.

"Aw man, you guys just don't quit, do ya? Well, have it your way!" and in 5 seconds the others have joined their pal on the ground. "Hm, even the Garden Gnomes put up a better fight than that."

As she continues to wander through the bizarre dreamlike mall, she bumps into a gigantic pro-wrestler next, who also inexplicably wants to fight her. If not for his immense size, SG2 could take him down easily…but her fear of being trampled under thousands of feet prompted her to, for once in her life, opt for the non-violent solution.

"Hey, now, you don't REALLY want to fight me, right?" she asks.

"Why not?" the big man questions her.

"Well, I mean, wrestling's a professional sport, isn't it? I mean, you don't just go to random malls and pick random fights with little tiger cubs all the time, do you? I mean, that'd be like…I dunno, a professional basketball player going down to the local street ball court and playing amateurs!"

"Hm, I guess you're right. I didn't think of it that way. OK then, sorry to have bothered you."

With a polite nod, the two part ways, and SG2 silently congratulates herself for the genius ploy. Next on her journey in the mall of weirdness, SG2 passes through the electronics section…which is inexplicably destroyed, broken glass strewn across the floor. In the midst of the chaos, however, nerds roam the department like vultures on a corpse…and among it all, a tall ninja dressed all in black, a mask covering most of the face. SG2 approaches the mysterious ninja, getting a feeling that she recognizes this person from somewhere. Sure enough, getting close enough to glimpse the face, it hits her. She doesn't know this person from real life, but from television.

"M…Morgan? Morgan Webb?" she asks, the ninja's eyes widening at the words. "Morgan Webb of X-Play? That's who you are, aren't you?" the ninja sweats, desperately trying to keep concealed with SG2 screaming her name for all to hear. "I LOVE X-Play! I watch it all the time! I knew it, you ARE her! YOU'RE MORGAN WEBB OF G4TV'S X-PLAY!" the ninja Morgan freaks as SG2's scream alerts the dozens of nerds stationed around the department.

"Hey look, she's right! It IS Morgan!" a nerd calls.

"Yeah! Letsh get hersssh!" another cries, slurring through his headgear.

As the nerds storm after the third-tier cable celebrity, she runs for her life screaming "Thanks a lot, kid!" to SG2 before disappearing from view. Shrugging, SG2 moves on, setting her sights once again on her incapable-of-accomplishing-a-simple-task friends.

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TEAM C SCENE

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"OK, this plan seemed like it would work a LOT better before the sun came up…" Silver laughs nervously as she stands, handcuffed and bound to her friends and the Saiyuki boys.

Apparently, Silver's plan was to sneak into the ranch under the cover of night and steal 7 horses, hoping to account for the 8 reindeer that usually pull the sleigh and make their journey faster. But, as she stood there, tied with binding rope at gunpoint of an angry redneck farmer, it seemed that this little pit stop only set the goal of saving Christmas even FURTHER into the distance.

"Look, we weren't trying to STEAL your property, man!" Informer X explains. "We need those horses so we can take the place of the dead Santa Claus and save Christmas before the evil Garden Gnomes bring the Grinch back to life and destroy the world!"

"Yeah yeah, like I ain't heard THAT'N a million tahms…" he spits into a nearby metal bucket, making the cliché "pt-ting!" sound effect.

"It's the TRUTH!" Sage screams.

"Yeah! We jus' wanna save Christmas, mister!" Gokou begs innocently, trying to free the rope digging into his wrists.

"Nah nah, y'alls trespassin' on mah propertah, and now yer gon' pay fer it!"

"Dammit, NO!" Gojyo yells, unable to break the ropes. The farmer cocks his gun.

"Nah, it bein' Christmas an' all, I'm a-gon' give y'alls a chance t' 'pologize t' me, b'fore ah shootcha."

"What! You mean you're STILL going to shoot us, even AFTER we apologize!" Informer X exclaims.

"Shucks yeah! I jus' got this gun fer ma wife, daughter, ma Aunt Pauline and ma moms."

"Wait…you got one gun for four people?" asks Sanzo.

"Nah, she's all th' same person." Everyone cringes in disgust at the implication of incest.

"Wait…that doesn't even make SENSE!" Silver bellows, thinking out the logic of it all.

"Well, 'r' y'alls gon' say yer sorry 'r' is I gon' shootcha dead right now?" he asks impatiently.

"Uh, no, we'll apologize!" Silver assures, sending a wink signal over to Hakkai. Hakkai nods, getting the message as she stalls for time. "Oh great mister…farmer…guy…we are terribly, deeply sorry that we broke into your ranch and tried to steal your horses. We know now what we did was wrong, especially on Christmas, when the spirit of giving is in the air, not the spirit of taking. We know now that…"

as Silver goes on, Hakkai whispers for Jeep, signaling silently for the small dragon to loosen the ropes just enough for them to escape. Complying, he gnaws on the rope, finally managing to tear it enough so Sage can reach for his Kentana. Still listening to Silver's apology, the farmer takes no notice as Sage slices through the rope, freeing himself, Informer X, Hakkai and Sanzo. Sanzo shoots a bullet into the air, drawing the attention of the farmer. In the momentary distraction, Sage slices free the remaining Silver, Gojyo and Gokou from their bindings. Gokou springs into the air and hammers the farmer down with his Nyoi-Boh staff as Silver runs over to the horse stable and begins preparations to hitch the team to the "sleigh". Once they are good to go, the gang hops in, and Informer X shoots a blast from his rocket launcher at the empty farmhouse, just in case, as the gang once again takes off to the sky.

"OK…it's 12:57 PM, we have only about 11 hours left to deliver all these toys! Hopefully we'll make better time now…" Silver notes as Sage pumps all his enchantments into the horses, tearing into the night air.

"Man…I sure hope that SG2 and the others are making better time than we are…" Silver ponders, as the jeep zooms through the chill night air.

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TEAM A SCENE-REUINITED (EXCEPT SG2 AT THE MOMENT)

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"In there!" Reiji cries as Chibisuke circles the air above the giant shopping mall. "This is where the signal was coming from! Do you think your friends could be in there?"

"The mall?" Angel wonders. "I guess it's POSSIBLE…but they'd better be doing what they're SUPPOSED to and not SHOPPING or something!"

Angel points downward, and complying, Reiji and Chibisuke prepare to land. Back inside the mall, Yonk's group continues to run after their stint stealing from the man from earlier to get the final Dragonball.

"Well, assuming Angel-san's team got the other one we saw before…" Chibi Trunks goes on. "That would mean we have them all! And look, this one's coming right at us! It must be the others! We did it, we DID it!"

"Great…well we'll meet up with them in the front of the store, come on!" Yonk calls.

"What about SG2-san?" Goten asks.

"Oh, she'll catch up to us, don't worry! I'm sure she can sense Angel's team right now and is on her way!" Yonk replies, continuing to run.

"Alright, a real Christmas adventure!" Naruto exclaims gleefully. "This is gonna be AWESOME! AND we get to fight these Garden Gnomes! Alright, I'm gonna show off my killer ninjitsu, just wait and see!" Yonk smiles at the over-excited boy.

"Don't get too cocky, Naruto. These Gnomes are tougher than they look…but firs things first, we need to make our wish and bring Santa back!"

Finally arriving at the front lobby of the store, Yonk's team waits for the others to arrive, each making small talk with one another…save for Sasuke, who stands by himself not wanting to join the merriment, and Kakashi, who is still busy with his nose in his book. Finally, Angel, )\/(ajin \/egita, the boys, Reiji and Chibisuke (now back to his untransformed state) dash into the mall, glad to be reunited with the rest of their team.

"So we have all 7 now?" Angel asks Yonk.

"Yeah! We can finally bring back Santa!" he replies.

"Where's SG2?" )\/(ajin \/egita asks, looking around.

"She'll be here any minute now…" Yonk says…and the minutes fly by, yet SG2 has still not returned. "Where the Hell IS she!"

"What happened?"

"We ran into Corey's team and she went chasing after them."

"Aren't they supposed to be stopping the Gnomes from meeting the Pixies!"

"Yeah…that's why she's so pissed."

"Well, let's not just wait here for her! We have to go find them and stop those Gnomes! AND make our wish!"

And so, hoping to reunite with SG2 AND join up with Team B now that Team A's mission is near complete, Yonk, Angel, )\/(ajin \/egita, both Gotens and Trunkses, and the along-for-the-ride Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, Reiji and Chibisuke head towards where SG2's Ki signal is coming from…the center of the mall, almost meeting up with those of Karma, Corey, Ville, and the tagging-along GetBackers, as Operation Save The Christmas kicks into high gear.

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TEAM B SCENE-UNITED WITH SG2

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"So Mrs. Claus hired you guys, huh?" Karma asks the GetBackers.

"Yeah. She figured if anyone could get back that Piski Dust stuff it'd be us…and besides, I guess she didn't have a lot of faith in you guys…"

"Yeah, I wonder why…" Karma glares, shooting a glance at Ville and Corey.

"Hey, I've got a question." Ville says. "We were all put into this mission because we have powers that are of use, right? I mean, I can turn into inanimate objects…" he says, and in a puff of smoke demonstrates by turning into a toaster. A piece of toast pops out before he changes back to Ville. "Karma, you can stick to walls and ceilings…" at the signal, Karma leaps into the air, high enough to the upper wall. She runs up the wall to the ceiling and back down in a Sonic the Hedgehog-goes-through-a-loop-esque scenario, landing back on the floor. "Right. And these guys…uh, what can you do, exactly?" he asks the GetBackers.

"Well," Ban begins. "I've got the Snake Bite…" he says, grasping a nearby steel girder and crushing it to dust. "And, I've got the Evil Eye."

"Yeah!" Karma chimes in excitedly. "The Evil Eye! It has the power to create illusions in the minds of whoever he looks in the eye! Of course, it won't work if there is no direct eye contact, which is why he wears the sunglasses…but, when it works, the illusion lasts a full minute! The only restrictions are that it can't be used on the same person more than once within a 24-hour period, he needs a minute to recharge between uses, and he can only use it a total of three times within 24 hours!" Ban is dumbfounded.

"Wow. You sure…uh…you sure know your stuff…" Karma grins widely.

"As for me, I'm a Denki Unagi!" Ginji exclaims.

"An electric eel?" Corey asks.

"How do YOU know Japanese?" Ville asks.

"I don't, I read the first 3 volumes of GetBackers." He replies.

"WHY!" Ville asks confused.

"There's this girl named Hevn in it…her boobs are HUGE!" Corey exclaims, drooling.

"Wow, really!" Ville asks, his eyes widening.

"Oh yeah man, you GOTTA meet Hevn…" Ginji says, beginning conversation with the other two. "I've never touched 'em myself, but Ban-chan does all the time, sneakin' up on her and grabbin' 'em…Man, I wish I could—" He is cut off as Karma grunts, not wanting to listen to another minute of the perverted discussion.

"Ahem! Anyways…Ginji's power lets him conduct electricity throughout his body-just like an electric eel, as Corey said." She notes.

"Right. See, my point being that WE all have powers…" Ville goes on, pointing at Corey. "But what the Hell can COREY do!"

"What? What is that supposed to mean!" Corey barks.

"No, seriously! You can't do SQUAT! You don't have ANY powers, Corey!" The blonde boy snickers.

"Heh, that's not what your mom said last night!"

"WHAT! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY!"

"Ooooh, your mom…she is a DEVIL…IN THE SACK!"

"I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" Ville cries, leaping at Corey and once again enveloping them both in a cartoonish cloud of smoke. Ginji, Ban and Karma sweatdrop at the sight.

"Are these two always like that?" Ginji asks.

"Unfortunately, yes…" Karma sighs out. Dropping to her knees in front of the GetBackers, she clasps her hands together, begging. "Please take me with you…"

Just then, SG2 finally arrives on the scene, seething with rage at the sight of her friends seemingly goofing off. She walks over to Corey and Ville's battle, pulling them apart and holding them up, one in each paw, by the collars of their shirts.

"SG2! What are you doing here!" Corey cries, voice shaking in fear at the look in her eyes.

"Yeah! Aren't you supposed to be with Yonk getting the Dragonballs!" Ville asks. SG2's ears prick up at the implication.

"Are you accusing me of not doing my job?" she asks in a low voice, almost a growl. "Because last I checked, YOU guys were supposed to be infiltrating the Gnome Tower and stopping their meeting with the Pixies, in addition to getting back that Piski dust…" she pulls both boys closer to her face, roaring at both simultaneously. "NOT CHRISTMAS SHOPPING AT THE FRICKIN' MALL!" In a moment, both boys fall to the ground, their faces bleeding from the several linear claw marks slashed into their skin.

Next, SG2 approaches Karma, not even noticing the GetBackers nearby.

"And YOU…" she growls. "I expected this of those idiots, but YOU! YOU were supposed to keep them in line!"

"Hey, what do you want me to do!" Karma defends herself. "I did the best I could! You just can't CONTROL those two!" SG2 continues to growl, the sound vibrating deep in her throat, warningly. "Calm down…besides, look, coming to the mall was actually a blessing after all! Look who we ran into!" she gestures towards the GetBackers, and SG2 steps back in shock.

"The G-G-G-G…the G-G-G-G-G-G…" she stutters. "THE GETBACKERS! WHY? HOW! WHAT!" drool begins to form in her mouth at the sight of Ban, much like what happened to Karma only a short time ago. "Y…you…"

"Hahahaha! Apparently Mrs. Claus didn't have faith in us getting this mission done either!" Karma laughs out.

"I can't imagine why…" SG2 mutters sarcastically, noticing Ville and Corey have seemingly recovered from her scratches and are at it again.

"Well, anyways, she hired these guys to help us! So…how did your mission go?"

"Well," SG2 begins. "Last I checked we had 5 of the 7 Dragonballs, but I can sense AngelGoten and the others' Ki, so I take it they caught back up to us and—"

"What?" Karma interrupts her. "You got separated?"

"Oh, yeah. In the blizzard, and all. But I'm assuming they got the one we were tracking before…and hopefully Yonk and the others got the ball we picked up the signal of in this mall…that's why we're here, of course, unlike some OTHER people taking PIT STOPS…"

"Well, anyways…now that we're all here why don't we go meet up with the others? I think I can sense them in the front of the mall, but my Ki sensing abilities aren't as good as you guys'…" She mumbles.

"Yeah, they're all there…and I sense…1, 2, 3…SIX, wow…six presences I don't know…come on, we'd better go check it out!"

Karma and SG2 run over to Corey and Ville, each grabbing one and dragging them off as the GetBackers follow close behind, aiming to unite with the remainder of Team A at the front of the mall, and get back to saving Christmas.

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TEAM AB-ALL ARE UNITED

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"YOU GUYS!" screams SG2, leaping into view of the team running toward hers.

"There you are, SG2!" )\/(ajin \/egita exclaims. "We've been looking all over for you! We've got all the Dragonball now!"

"OK, cool, I hoped you would!" she says, relieved. "We've got these guys now, and a couple new additions…as I see you do. Are those…the Naruto cast! A-A-And Reiji and Chibisuke from Dragon Drive?"

"Yup! Who are those guys?" Angel asks.

"These are the GetBackers! Turns Mrs. Claus hired them to help Team B on their job!"

"Well, we've got to get out of this mall and find a good place to summon Shenlong and make our wish!" Yonk cries aloud. "Then, we'll go do the job Team B was SUPPOSED to be doing all this time!"

"Alright alright, we screwed up! We GET it already, sheesh! Can we just DROP it now and focus on DOING it!" Ville asks, annoyed.

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Teen Trunks says. "We still don't know what those Gnomes are planning…"

"Yeah…" Chibi Trunks muses. "Come to think of it, we haven't SEEN any Gnomes for a WHILE now!"

"Maybe they gave up?" Corey wonders.

"No…No we've dealt with these guys before, they wouldn't give up so easy…they're definitely planning something." SG2 states, her voice growing serious. "Come on, we've got to hurry and—" All of a sudden, a call comes in on SG2's cell phone.

"What? Uh, hold on…" she says, fumbling for the phone in her pockets.

"SG2, I didn't know you had a cell phone!" Ville asks confused.

"Oh, I don't, this is my dad's…I kinda took it…" she says, still trying to get a hold of the phone.

"You STOLE it!" Karma exclaims in shock.

"What? It's not the first time I've stolen…but yeah I figured when we came out to Capsule Corp. for Christmas, what with how the last two years went down, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have a cell phone! You know, for emergencies and all! GOT IT! Hello?" she says, finally getting the phone and lifting it to her ear.

" SG2! It's Informer X! " comes the voice through the phone. On the other side of the phone, SG2 can hear Sage's voice.

"How do you know SG2's phone number?" he asks.

"What? Oh, I call her all the time. It's no big deal." Silver laughs. "What's so funny?"

"What?" Silver says. "Nothing, who said anything was funny?" Informer X growls at her, returning to the phone.

" Informer, are you still there? " SG2 asks into the phone, confused.

" Yeah, I'm here! " He responds. " How are things going over there on your end? "

" Well, we got all the Dragonballs now and we're about to make our wish! Plus, we met up with Karma's team and we're all here now! How about you? "

" I wish I could say the same for us…Mr. Hankey is dead, and we're not having much luck delivering the toys! "

" What? Well how many houses have you hit?" 

"Did I hear him say Mr. Hankey is DEAD!" cries )\/(ajin \/egita, starting to cry. Angel pats him on the back to console him as SG2 returns to her conversation.

" Well…in the time since we started at about 4:00 AM this morning…we've hit…70 houses." 

" WHAT! ONLY 70! " SG2 cries in disbelief. The others stand by as her conversation goes on. "Well can't you do anything to speed it up? "

" We tried! We met up with those guys from Gensomaden Saiyuki and we're using their jeep, AND we stole 7 horses from some drunken hick, and we're STILL not making good enough time! Without that Piski dust there's no way to make this thing go fast enough! "

" Well…don't worry, just do they best you can! We're about to bring Santa back to life and then we're going to get back that Piski dust…there's still a little over 10 hours until Christmas, I'm sure we can do it… " On SG2's side of the phone, Naruto's ears perk up.

"Wait…you guys need to deliver a lot of gifts in a short time, right?" SG2 turns from the phone for a minute.

"Uh…yeah?"

"Well let me help! I can DO this, datteba yo!"

"What? How do you mean?"

"DUH! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! If I use my Kage Bunshin, we can get it done in NO time!"

"Hey, that's right!" Yonk realizes. "You'd need to make a LOT of Kage Bunshin clones, but there's a chance it could work! Or, at least hold the time until we get back the dust and Santa!"

"Wait a minute, WAAAAAIIT a minute…" Teen Trunks speaks up. "Are you actually saying that this kid thinks he can MULTIPLY himself, and have each one deliver Christmas presents? Hehehe…that's IMPOSSIBLE."

" Yeah, Informer? I'll talk to you later. We've got a bit of an argument brewing here…Bye. "

" What! Hey, wait, we're still— " CLICK

"What happened?" asks Silver.

"Dammit, she hung up on me!" Informer X fumes. Back at the mall, the argument erupts full-force over whether or not a Kage Bunshin no Jutsu is physically possible.

"I'm telling you, I can DO it! I learned it when I read the forbidden scroll Mizuki-Sensei stole!"

"I don't care WHAT scroll you read it off of, it isn't POSSIBLE!" Trunks shouts back.

"Yeah!" Chibi Trunks joins in, agreeing with his older counterpart. "My mom told me that that's…uh…" he fumbles for the right word.

"She says it defies the laws of physics." Trunks chimes in, helping his younger self.

"Yeah, that! Because it con…con…uh…crap, I KNOW this one…"

"Because it contradicts the law that states matter is neither created nor destroyed."

"Yeah! And the laws of alchemy state that human kind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return, and that to obtain, something of equal value must be lost! THAT is alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange!" Karma shouts, drawing a hush from her fellows. "…Well it's true!"

"Yeah, but we're not talking about Alchemy now, Karma!" SG2 tells her.

"Whatever…" Karma shrugs, returning to reading her new FullMetal Alchemist Volume 4.

"It is physically IMPOSSIBLE!" Trunks screams, his voice rising in volume.

"Well, I don't care what that says, I know I can DO it! I use it all the time, as these guys!" Naruto barks. Yonk nods along with Sasuke and Sakura, while Kakashi continues to read.

"Uh-huh, it's true Trunkses. He does do it. ALL the time." Yonk adds in.

"Yeah, he does." SG2 agrees. "It actually can get a bit repetitive and annoying. And predictable."

"HE CAN'T!" but Trunkses say simultaneously.

"Fine, I have a plan. Naruto, Trunks, and Chibi Trunks, you guys come with me." Yonk says as they gather around and hold onto him. He touches two fingers to his forehead.

"Where are we going?" Chibi Trunks asks.

"We're going to see your mom." Yonk answers.

"WAIT YOU ASSHOLES! WE NEED TO MAKE OUR WISH!" SG2 yells at them.

"Relax, we won't be gone long, and I'm sure you can handle that without me. Ja, matta ne!" and before SG2 can protest that Yonk has stolen her favorite catch phrase, they are gone.

"Dammit…Well come on, the rest of us will go make that wish and he'll just have to catch up later."

As SG2 and her cohorts set out from the warm mall back into the freezing blizzard, they pray Team C will have all the luck possible with their mission, hoping the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu can lend a hand as well…defying the laws of physics or not.

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TEAM A1 SCENE-THE SPLIT-UP YONK, CHIBI TRUNKS, TEEN TRUNKS AND NARUTO

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In a flash, the gang arrives in the front lobby of the Capsule Corporation business department. Naruto looks around, amazed to see so much technology after growing up in a ninja village.

"BULMA-SAN!" Yonk screams. "IT'S YONK! WE NEED TO TALK TO YOU!"

"What is it?" she says, running into the room to join the others. "I've been wondering what happened to you guys, you all ran up to the bathroom in the middle of dinner! I was afraid some crazy orgy was going on or something I didn't even want to KNOW about!" at the disturbing words, Yonk and the others cringe.

"Uh…Anyways…" Yonk breaks in, desperately trying to change the subject. "We're trying to save Christmas, long story, we'll tell you later…but we need to know whether or not the ability to make real, flesh-and-blood clones of yourself is, well, POSSIBLE."

"It IS possible!" Naruto protests. "I DO IT ALL THE TIME!"

"Yeah, in YOUR universe…but in THIS universe…" Yonk tries to explain. Bulma puts her hand to her chin, contemplating the subject.

"Well, I know that after images are possible…" she muses.

"Yeah, we do those all the time!" the Trunkses say, creating several Zanzouken duplicates of themselves and then returning to their normal bodies.

"But making flesh-and-blood bodies out of nowhere? Each with a mind of its own? I'm afraid that that's fantasy. It's scientifically impossible to spontaneously generate matter. After all, human kind can not gain anything without first—"

"Yeah yeah, we already heard that one." Yonk cuts her off. "But, so you mean it's not possible for Naruto to split off into, say, 100 separate bodies of himself to deliver all the Christmas presents of the world much quicker?"

"No, of course not. Who's Naruto?"

"The guy in the orange coat."

"The one who's eating my potpourri!" Bulma asks, looking over as the blonde boy chomping on the scented chips of…whatever potpourri is made of.

"WHAT! NARUTO!" Yonk shouts, pulling him away from it.

"Well, it's not as good as Ramen, but it's not bad either!" he says. "Yup, I'm a wise man!"

"You were eating POTPOURRI!"

"Was I? Or was I eating brain food for a wise man?"

"Ugh…ANYWAYS, is it possible or not?" Yonk asks Bulma once again, and the answer is the same.

"It's NOT." She says confidently.

"Fine, that's it! I'll PROVE that I can do it! KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" he cries, touching his forefingers of each hand together, his other fingers interlocked. Shock descends on the members of the Briefs family in the room as it is filled to the brim with Narutos!

"WHAT THE HELL!" Bulma screams.

"NO WAY, THAT'S NOT FRICKIN' POSSIBLE!" Teen Trunks cries, even as he is surrounded by Ramen-craving orange-wearing blonde-headed ninja-wannabe fools. Indeed, the Kage Bunshin Shadow-Of-Falling-Leaf Jutsu is a success.

"Well, now that I've proved my point…" echo hundreds of Naruto voices at once. "Let's go deliver those toys!"

And with that, the Narutos join back into one body, leaping over to Yonk to be more effectively Shunkan Idou'd to their next destination, leaving a shocked Bulma behind them.

"…Well, I guess this shouldn't surprise me TOO much…now that I think about it, everyone I KNOW can do crazy illogical things like that, why should this be any different?" Bulma says to herself. "Maybe I'M the crazy one. Heh, I'm talking to myself now, THAT'S pretty crazy! Yup, yup, crazy!" she continues to go on, packing a suitcase as she does and slapping a note reading "Return To Sender" on her forehead, trotting out the door into the snow in the direction of the nearest insane asylum.

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TEAM AB SCENE

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Yonk returns to his friends, dropping off the Trunkses with the others before preparing to yet-again teleport himself elsewhere.

"OK, you guys can handle this on your own. Me and Naruto need to help Team C."

And, once again, he is off.

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TEAM C SCENE-JOINED BY YONK AND NARUTO

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"Whoa!" Yonk calls out surprisedly, his Shunkan Idou transporting he and Naruto on the edge of the flying craft and nearly sending them toppling over. "Geez, I need to work on my aim…"

"WHAT THE HELL!" screams Gojyo, leaping back best he can in the confined vehicle. "THAT DUDE JUST FELL FROM THE SKY!"

"Yonk? What are you doing here?" Silver asks, ignoring the surprise of her new friends.

"Good news! We're here to help you deliver those toys!"

"What about SG2?" asks Sage, concerned.

"They can handle that stuff without me. We brought you a special ninja to help out with the gift-giving!" he says, gesturing to Naruto.

"Who's this joker?" Sanzo mutters as Naruto strikes a confident-yet lame-pose.

"Name's Uzumaki Naruto, and you'd better remember it because some day I'm gonna be the next Hokage! Datteba yo!"

"What the Hell's a 'Hokage', Sanzo?" asks Gokou curiously.

"How should I know? I'm a Sanzo priest." He responds coldly.

"Anyways…do your stuff, Naruto!" Yonk bellows.

"Right! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" one shout and once again, the sky is filled to the brim with Narutos. Once again, it is Gojyo who is first to freak out at the strange occurrence.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE! YOU'RE ALL A BUNCH OF WITCHES!" he screams, pointing from Naruto to Naruto.

"Alright, ninja stuff, how cool!" Silver yells. "You know, I'm a bit of a ninja myself! A L33T Ninja! \0\/\/ \/\/-47 1 /\/\34\?" All the Narutos blink in unison.

"I have NO idea what you just said…" they say simultaneously.

"y0u \0\/\, 4 L33T \1\j4! P-33r /\/\y L337 5-uR1 3\ 0 )00/\/\!" she says, speaking incessant L33T that no one in the current company can understand except Yonk.

"u-, 1 -473 L33T…" he sighs.

"0- (0/\/\3 0\ Y0\ , 175 u\!"

"y35, 3u7 7-15 15 \0 71/\/\3 70 33 6001\6 0! \/\/3 -4\/3 Pr353\75 70 )3l1\/3r! 3351)35, 1 337 -4l 7-3 P30pL3 r34)1\6 7-15 r16-7 \0\/\/ -4\/3 \0 1)34 \/\/-47 7-3 -3lL 15 601\6 0\ 33(4u53 7-3y )0\7 5p34 L33T!"

"0 , y0u\/3 607 4 600) p01\7 7-3r3…" Silver amends sorrowfully. "4lR16-7, 1lL 570p L33T1\6 0r \0\/\/ 4\) l37 \4rU70 )0 -15 57u…"

"7-4\ y0u. 3r, 1 /\/\34\ 'Thank you'…ugh, now you've got ME doing it!"

"Alright, ANYWAYS…here I go!" the Narutos cry, each grabbing as many presents as he can carry and leaping out of the jeep as each house is passed, dropping them down the chimneys in record time.

"Wow, this is going a lot better than I expected!" Silver notes, a bit surprised.

"Yeah, but it's already too late, and at this rate we're STILL too slow…" Yonk realizes. "We just need to hope SG2's team can get Santa and that Piski dust back before Christmas…

Riding in the sky full of Narutos, Team C plus Yonk resume their journey, wishing to the night's shining Christmas stars (which are barely visible through the blurs of orange and blonde) that Team AB will reach their goal.

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TEAM AB SCENE

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"Dammit, without Yonk we can't Shunkan Idou anywhere!" SG2 says angrily.

"It's OK, we can use Corey's car to take the Dragonballs to an open space." Ville says, preparing to step into the vehicle.

"Hey, can you guys wait a minute?" Corey says slightly suspiciously.

"Why?"

"I, uh…I left my jacket in the store, can you go in and get it for me? All of you?"

"What! Why would we ALL need to get a JACKET?" Ville asks, sensing his friend/enemy is up to something.

"Because, I, uh…the Dragonball are in my pockets and it's really heavy!" he comes up with on the spot.

"Oh Damn, we can't leave without the Dragonballs! Come on everyone!" SG2 cries, running back into the building with her friends. Once they are out of sight, Corey snickers, turning the key in his ignition and driving away.

"Heh, make fun of me for having no powers, will you? Well then, if I can't lend you my services then screw you guys, I'm going home." He laughs, turning on the radio and doing 75 all the way home.

Inside the mall, the gang searches Lost and Found for Corey's jacket before it dawns on SG2.

"Wait a minute…THE DRAGONBALLS ARE IN CHIBI TRUNKS' BACKPACK!" she cries. Sure enough, the lavender-haired little boy rummages through his back and all seven balls are inside.

"DAMMIT COREY!" Ville screams, he and his friends running full speed back to the parking lot, only to find Corey gone with a note on the ground in his car's place, reading "See Ya Suckers". Ville crumples the note in his hand furiously.

"He frickin' did it AGAIN! He actually drove off on us!"

"It's OK, we can go in our car!" Ban says, leading the gang to the other side of the parking lot. After a minute of searching, Ginji speaks up.

"Um, I'm pretty sure this is where we parked, Ban-chan…" he says innocently.

"Yeah, I was sure that—" all of a sudden Ban notices a sandwich board on the ground where their car was. It reads "Parking prohibited, Car towed. Shinjuku Police, 3:15 PM".

"What the Hell!" Ban exclaims angrily.

"You didn't feed the parking meters AGAIN, Ban-chan! Why do you do this every time! You KNOW our car just gets towed in the end! This happens CONSTANTLY!" Ginji yells at his friend and partner. Karma and SG2 nod in unison, knowing full well Ban's bad habit always gets the GetBackers' car towed.

"But we're not even in SHINJUKU! You expect me to believe that same dirty stinkin' cop FOLLOWED us here JUST so she could tow our car AGAIN! I don't believe this…" Ban fumes.

"Dammit…well we'll have to go on foot, come on guys…" SG2 says, leading the way.

"I need to lie down…" Ban says, holding a hand to his forehead.

"Ooooh no you don't Ban-chan, come on." Ginji says, dragging his friend by the arm.

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"Ugh, without Yonk walking on foot sure takes a long-ass time…" SG2 notes. "It's already 5:00 PM!"

"Well, let's hurry and make that wish, then!" Angel suggests.

"Right!「いでよ神龍! そしてねがいをかなえたまえ! 」SG2 cries, chanting the words that will summon Shenlong, the mighty wish-granting Dragon God of the Dragonballs. Knowing well enough this year NOT to summon the Dragon in a cave, the gang stands around the circular formation in the barren snowy wasteland and the beam of light shoots into the sky and takes the form of a long, Asian-style Dragon.

「7つのボールをそろえしものよ〪〪〪さあ、ねがいをいえ! 」 responds the bellowing voice of the Dragon, giving the traditional command to the user to make their wish.

"Yes! Shenlong, Great Dragon God! We would like you to bring back to life the one known as—" SG2, as well as the wish, are cut off as something strikes her with a blow to the back of the neck, causing her to drop to the ground, unconscious. Ban Midou's eyes widen from behind his black sunglasses as the small tiger falls limply to the snow below. In utter shock, the others don't have the first reaction to shout the remainder of the wish in her place, which is the biggest mistake the could possibly make as out from the shadows leap…THE GARDEN GNOMES! Finishing SG2's cut-off wish, they interject with their own malicious agenda…

"THE GRINCH!" shouts the same Gnome who led the sabotage of Santa's sleigh, a tremendous evil grin spreading across his face as the others can only look on in terror. Shenlong's eyes glow red and the darkness around it filled with a luminous glow.

"**IT IS DONE.**" Speaks the Dragon, vanishing into his own magnificent light.

The Dragonballs radiate light and rise into the air, splitting off to the far corners of the earth, now ordinary stones, inactive for an entire year.

"NO! GOD DAMMIT, NO!" screams )\/(ajin \/egita, running over to clutch the fallen SG2 in the snow.

The dark, sinister clouds of the night sky as the air itself it tinged with an eerie crimson, the smell of blood filling their nostrils with the knowledge that they have failed spectacularly. )\/(ajin \/egita, Angel, and the Trunkses and Gotens are particularly quivering in fear, sensing that the enormous presence of energy is FAR greater in power and evil than the Grinch the vanquished the prior year…A vengeful laugh echoes through the air as the Gnomes join in the chorus, drinking in their marvelous success.

"Wahahahahahahahahahaha…I told you fools that I would return yet again…THIS time I shall not be made a fool out of…This time, the fate of Christmas is not all you shall forfeit! You shall forfeit your lives, your world, and your SOULS to the might of the Grinch!"

Our heroes can do nothing but stare at the ominous figure descending from the heavens, looking NOTHING like the Grinch of the stories, nor even the Grinch the longest-time members of the IGNO team did battle with on the previous two years…This being, this red-dyed creature of ultimate evil, could not be stopped by conventional means, and they knew it. )\/(ajin \/egita grits his teeth tightly, all attempts to awaken SG2 for naught. Four of their mightiest warriors not among them, the team braces itself for a spectacular battle…a battle they know they cannot likely win.

**END OF ACT 2-OPERATION SAVE THE CHRISTMAS**


	3. Act III: The Grinch Lives

**BEGINNING OF ACT 3-THE GRINCH LIVES**

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TEAM AB SCENE

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Terrified out of their minds, and rightly so, the members of the merged-together Team AB stand trembling in the snowy night, surrounded by malicious Garden Gnomes and one pissed-off All-Powerful Grinch hovering in the air above them. SG2 has fallen unconscious, and )\/(ajin \/egita has tried everything to revive her to no avail. Silver, Informer X and Sage are absent, a major inconvenience when their talents are greatly needed. Yonk, presumably the most powerful member of the IGNO gang, is with them, also unable to lend his assistance. Corey has abandoned the group, not that he had anything to contribute to begin with, and overall the gang is in a very smelly situation.

"Dammit…if only we had gotten the balls SOONER! DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT!" )\/(ajin \/egita cries, slamming his fists into the snow.

"SG2, come on…you've got to wake up…" Angel near-cries, kneeling on the snow beside her fallen friend.

"ONCE AGAIN YOU WILL ALL FEEL THE WRATH OF ANTI-CHRISTMAS!" the Grinch booms.

"Rats…how did we beat him last time!" )\/(ajin \/egita asks Angel and the boys.

"Well," teen Goten recalls, "we had all turned into Chibi's by the Dragon God, and me an' Trunks-kun became Christmas Gotenks and ended up blasting him away with the extra energy boost Mr. Hankey transferred to us before he died…"

"OK…well this time we have TWO sets of Goten and Trunks! Both of you, fuse! Hurry!"

The boys take their stances and prepare to join their bodies in the art of Fusion. Just as they begin, however, the Grinch points a long, scraggly finger towards them menacingly.

"Oh no you don't, you won't get me with your little trick THIS year!" he cries, firing a beam at the boys. Before they realize it and have a chance to dodge, both the Chibi and teen versions of Goten and Trunks are frozen within a prison of crimson-stained ice.

"GOTENNY! NOO!" Angel cries, running over to the ice. She turns to Sasuke over on the sidelines.

"Sasuke-kun, quick! Use your Fireball Jutsu and melt this ice!" she screams frantically. Sasuke runs over, performing the necessary hand signs and blowing a massive fireball out his mouth directly onto the ice. To their shock, it does not melt.

"What! Impossible!" Sasuke exclaims.

"Bwahahahaha!" laughs the evil Grinch. "Take a closer look at that ice! You can't melt that with just ANY fire, only the cool BLUE fire of the Pixies can destroy that! And they will only do it on my command, since they obey me and ONLY me! And now, speaking of my minions…" he snaps his fingers and summons even more Gnomes, now being carried through the air by menacing flying Pixies. "ATTACK! SPARE NOT A ONE!" he screams, and on the command the forces leap on the impaired Team AB in a fury.

Karma quickly finds herself surrounded by Gnomes and Pixies on both land and sky. With no walls or ceilings nearby to stick to, she reaches for her Kodachi and slices open as many Gnomes as she can, tossing her snake into the air on the Pixies. Managing to fell all the Gnomes, Karma sighs in relief, only to be grabbed in the talons (yes, talons) of a Pixie and carried high into the sky.

Angel takes to the sky with her wings, deigning to do battle with the evil Pixies and leave the Gnomes to her ground-bound friends. She flaps forth a devastating Kamaitachi of razor wind, tearing the Pixies to shreds. A Pixie sneaks up behind her but, too quick for them, Angel goes Super Saiyajin and delivers a massive kick to its head, sending it spiraling to the ground below.

Ville is outnumbered by a staggering amount of Gnomes, and, unable to find a weapon with which to defend himself, can do nothing but transform into the first thing he can think of-a toaster. Aside from burning a Gnome's tongue with hot toast, Ville is unable to aid in the battle any further. He realizes that if he hadn't chased Corey off, he could become a metal bat again, or a sword, and they could use their teamwork…but it's too late for that now.

)\/(ajin \/egita goes Super Saiyajin 2, demolishing the surrounding area with his incredible strength. He unleashes his strongest Renzoku Energy Dan on the ground-dwelling Gnomes, taking to the air for fist-to-fist combat with the Pixies. However, the Pixies shortly gain the upper hand on even the supremely-powerful )\/(ajin \/egita, and he is sent plummeting to the ground, sprawling across the snow, battered and weakened.

All the present members of the IGNO team left crippled, it's up to their joined-by-chance companions to resume the battle.

Reiji unleashes the transformed Chibisuke's incredibly devastating Light Shock Wave, disintegrating an entire wave of Gnomes. But, with a mere snap of his fingers, the Grinch is able to produce even more, leaving the remaining warriors gasping for breath, their spirits unbroken but their bodies nearly taxed to the limit.

Ginji breaks his promise to Ban once again and slips into Lightning Lord mode, shooting his plasma waves at the surrounding Gnomes and Pixies. His powers unaided by the Infinity Fortress, however, Ginji is unable to reach 100 of his capabilities as he nearly did in his battle with Dr. Jackal, and even the legendary Lightning Lord falls prey to the malicious Gnomes.

Ban's Snake Bite grip tears through Pixie after Pixie, but since they just keep coming, they do little more than add to his Undefeated Streak. He continues to fight in spite of this, oddly confident as to the outcome of this battle…

Sasuke unleashes the Sharingan, allowing him to penetrate the guard of the Gnomes effortlessly. However, the Pixies use their intelligence to counter the incredible Jutsu by simply putting on sunglasses. The Sharingan having the same restrictions of Ban's Evil Eye as far as needing to meet the eyes of the opponent is now rendered useless, and it is only a matter of time before Sasuke is surrounded. Sakura screams, moving her Hitai-Ate to her forehead and leaping into battle to defend Sasuke. However, her Shadow Doppelganger is quickly countered and it's not long before she is outclasses as well.

"Kakashi-Sensei! HELP!" she screams to her Jonin Master. Merely peering up from his book for a moment, Kakashi shrugs and returns to reading as Sakura is drowned in an ocean of Gnomes.

SG2 is still unconscious, and the boys are still frozen. Now, everyone fighting on the side of Christmas has been overpowered by the awesome might of the Grinch and his Gnome and Pixie forces. Truly, they have lost…

"WAHAHAHAHA! I TOLD YOU WITHOUT YOUR PRECIOUS 'GOTENKS' YOU FOOLS WOULDN'T HAVE A CHANCE AGAINST ME! WE SHALL RISE TO DESTROY CHRISTMAS, AND ALL THE LOVE AND JOY THAT GOES ALONG WITH IT! CHRISTMAS SHALL NOW, TRULY, BECOME A DARK AND UNHOLY DAY!"

The crimson-soaked Grinch descends to the ground, landing before the head of the Gnome troops, the one who sabotaged Santa Claus himself.

"And you…you shall be my right-hand Gnome! We shall destroy Christmas, together!" the Grinch assures him, causing the beady-little eyes of the villain to gleam. On the sidelines, surrounded by Gnomes, beaten and bloodied on the ground, Ban Midou manages a weak grin…

"I did it…I finally did it! I FINALLY MADE A NAME FOR MYSELF! ALL HAIL THE GRINCH! HAIL THE MIGHTY GRINCH! HE SHALL RULE THIS WORLD, AND I SHALL RULE IT ALONGSIDE HIM! HAND IN HAND, WE SHALL CONQUER ALL WHO OPPOSE US!"

"Not quite." A voice breaks in, echoing in spite of the wide open area they are in. All of a sudden, as if nothing more than a dream, the very scenery around the battle begins to crumble and sink into the Earth.

"What…what's happening! WHAT'S HAPPENING!" screams the Gnome as the sky above opens up. A raging vortex opens and sucks the very sky into itself-the clouds, the stars, the snow…moving to suck in the very air. As the fallen warriors and the corpses of Gnomes and Pixies that litter the ground around him begin to sink into nothingness, the head Gnome finds himself teetering on the brink of reality.

"What…this isn't happening…This can't—" his eyes shake with terror as the mighty Grinch before him begins to dissolve, becoming nothing but mist that is sucked into the vortex in the sky. Clutching his throat, the Gnome collapses to his knees on the sinking snow beneath him.

"Breathe…I can't…I can't breathe…the air…is…" jerking forward, he vomits blood onto the cold ground before him, his hands gripping his throat tighter than before as he continues to spit blood. Unable to stop coughing, he runs out of air…unable to breathe, his face turns blue, no oxygen returning to his brain. Collapsing forward onto the sinking Earth, he vomits a huge amount of blood. Now, as the vortex swallows everything around him, the Gnome finds himself under immense pressure...the vacuum of space putting so much force on him that his very head explodes, spattering the crystal white snow with his brains and blood. As the entire world sparks and is dyed black, the night sky shatters like broken glass…

…And, with a flash, it has all returned. The Gnome stands, alive and fully intact, before an angry Team AB.

"What…I'm…I'm alive…I'm alive! What happened! This place, it's…" the Gnome desperately tries to grasp the situation.

"Just…one minute." Says Ban, making himself visible amongst the crowd.

"This…this is impossible! The world was sucked into the vortex in the sky!" the Gnome bellows. "I saw it with my own eyes! Before I ran out of air and my head…exploded…"

"Is that so?" says an ever-confident Ban Midou, stepping forward in front of the Gnome. Smirking, he pushes his trademark sunglasses up over his nose.

"Sure you weren't just having a bad dream?" The Gnome's eyes widen in utter incomprehension at the young man's words.

"A…A dream! Explain yourself!" At the words, Karma and SG2 turn angrily towards the sea-urchin-headed boy angrily.

"A DREAM!" Karma growls out.

"YOU USED THE EVIL EYE!" SG2 cries in a blind fury. "You mean you INTENTIONALLY put us through all that! What was all that crap about us getting our asses kicked!"

"Yeah!" Karma yells. "You couldn't even WARN us before you used it!"

"Hey, calm down!" Ban urges, trying to explain himself. "There wasn't TIME to warn you!"

"What do you mean?" SG2 asks, still aggravated. "When exactly did you use it?"

"Well, we really did summon the Dragon, and you did get knocked out! That's when I noticed it! Gnomes had followed us, obviously waiting to make their own wish when we weren't expecting it! They knocked you out and were about to shout out their wish, so I used the Evil Eye and got them before they could do it!"

"Well…that DOES sound like a good reason he didn't warn us, SG2…he actually SAVED us…" Karma amends. SG2 sighs.

"No, that's NOT a good reason!" She says. "He only had to use the eye on the GNOME! He had NO REASON to shoot US with the eye, too!"

"Heh, I figured it'd be fun to use all 3 of my daily Evil Eyes at once just to get you two, since you're such big fans of mine and all…I thought you'd APPRECIATE a little illusion!" He laughs snidely.

"Hmph! If you were aware how big of a 'fan' of yours I am, you would have sent me an illusion of you and Ginji spending a little 'quality time' together!" SG2 comments, to which Karma smacks her upside the head.

"Oh, sorry, forgot you were here…" she says, poking the bump received for mentioning the subject of Yaoi around Karma. "So, what happened while we were trapped in the illusion?"

"Heh, SO glad you asked!" Ban says happily, gesturing behind him where Santa Claus stands, alive and well, with Mr. Hankey on his shoulder. Everyone's eyes widen. Standing next to them are Silver, Informer X, Sage, Yonk, Naruto and the Saiyuki boys.

"SANTA!"

"Yup!" Ban smiles. "After I got the you guys, I used the wish to bring back Santa! But then, the Dragon told me I got TWO wishes! I didn't know what to use the other one for, so your friend )\/(ajin \/egita told me that some talking piece of poo named Mr. Hankey got killed too and so we used the second wish to revive him!"

"Howdy Ho, folks!" Mr. Hankey says, giving his signature circular wave to the gang.

"What about the reindeer? Didn't they all die, too?" Ville asks.

"O-ho-ho, we can bring them back next year." Santa says.

"So, wait…if you're all here, now, does that mean all the presents got delivered?" SG2 asks.

"Oh no, but they will be!" Santa laughs out. "We got back to Piski dust, so we're all good to go! Santa doesn't like to start his journey until he's safely under the cover of nightfall, remember. Besides, your friends have already delivered a good third of the load thanks to your ninja friend, and with the Piski dust and a rejuvenated Santa, we'll able to hit all the remaining houses in no time!"

"Will you really have enough time to do it all in such a time?" SG2 asks.

"Ho-ho-ho, don't underestimate the power of a Santa revved up on Piski dust and Redbull!" he laughs jollily, and the others join the chorus.

"Well, it's still only 5:01 PM, then! We actually saved Christmas with time to SPARE!" )\/(ajin \/egita comments. "We're getting better every year!"

"Well, I'd best be getting back to the North Pole. I'm sure Mrs. Claus and the elves are worried sick about me…"

"I'd best be going too, gang! Golly it sure was nice spendin' another Christmas adventure with y'all!" Mr. Hankey adds.

"Yeah, and we need to get back to Capsule Corp. and finish our dinner!" Both hungry Gotens say at once, their stomachs growling in unison. Once again, everyone laughs.

As the sun begins to set, Santa and our heroes part ways. The IGNO gang invites all their unexpected guests to join in their festivities as well, and they return to Capsule Corp. via Shunkan Idou. Bulma is less than pleased that she needs to present MORE food, but under the circumstances that they just saved Christmas, the gang is able to enjoy the remainder of a peaceful Christmas Eve.

Karma, Informer X, Sage, the Saiyuki boys and Kakashi enjoy a few rounds of poker while SG2, Yonk and Angel join Chibi Goten and Trunks in playing with their new Christmas toys (Bulma felt bad not letting the Christmas-saving tykes open one gift early each), as they are all children at heart anyways. )\/(ajin \/egita and Sasuke spend an evening of not talking to anyone, or even one another, even though they are uncannily alike, standing on opposite ends of the wall with their arms folded and merely watching their friends carry on with joy. Ville and Silver chat with one another as teen Trunks and Goten, not so grown up themselves, chase 12 or so Kage Bunshin no Narutos around the Christmas tree…leaving Bulma merely to shrug at the warped logic. Reiji and Chibisuke play a game of Super Smash Bros. Melee against the GetBackers and a surprisingly good Vegeta, Sakura stares at Sasuke, and Kakashi continues to read his early Christmas gift, the newest volume of "Come-Come Wonderland", the sequel to his beloved "Make-Out Paradise". Before they know it, time flies by, and the evening has turned into night. Forgetting their former plans through all the fun, the friends all end up falling asleep at Capsule Corp., deciding to worry about getting home to their respective Christmases when morning came.

Sleeping softly into the night, all go unaware to Santa Claus slipping down the chimney. Leaving a special gift for the Heroes of Christmas, he slides right back up to the roof, taking a few cookies with him for good measure. Insomniac SG2 cracks an eye open from her spot curled up on the couch, smiling to herself for tricking the big man into thinking she was asleep. She spares a glance at the magnificently wrapped and extravagant gift left, tempted to get up and tear into it right there and then. However, she simply curls back up next to the intertwined Goten and Trunks, deciding that the contents of the package could wait to be discovered until morning.

**END OF ACT 3-THE GRINCH LIVES**

**THE END**


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